There is a legitimate public purpose to be served in defining unlawful discrimination in such matters as housing and other public accomodation to include sexual orientation, as well as gender, ethnicity, racial distinctions and all such arbitrary standards. This is not what is going on in the case of Matthew Shepard. Murder is a hate crime, no matter who the victim is, who the killer is, or what the motive and circumstance are. And it's already against the law. No purpose can be served in establishing separate standards and statutes for murdering gays or blacks or any other class of person who was killed because someone imagined being kissed by him, or seeing his sister kissed.
Hate is bad.
Murder is bad. We've got that covered. Let's put our energy into setting better examples for our kids.