Hate crimes bill added to House defense authorization bill

Kyle R. Bailey, interim executive director of Stonewall Democrats, sent the following message out this afternoon, responding to the fact that the hate crimes bill has been added to the defense authorization bill in the House:

Congressman Barney Frank has been a champion for equality and our shared progressive values in the U.S. Congress for decades. Today, we are on the verge of enacting a critically important federal legislative priority as a community, which Congressman Frank has been leading the charge on: the expansion of our federal hate crimes law to include protections on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity.

However, hate crimes legislation is again in limbo as progressive members of Congress, joined by their anti-equality colleagues for very different reasons, consider voting against the Defense Authorization Bill.

Please call your members of Congress today and ask them to vote in favor of the Defense Authorization Bill to send inclusive hate crimes legislation to President Obama for his signature.

As this right-wing action alert shows, our adversaries are mobilizing. If the self-defeating left succeeds in sabotaging this, it won't be the last shot fired. Already Michael Moore is declaring war on Democrats who don't give him exactly what he wants on health care. A quarter century ago, the New York City Gay Men's Chorus had a Sister Mary Discipline; I think her presence is needed in the Democratic Caucus.

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