Now, it appears that under House and Senate leadership pressure, the Hate Crimes provision will probably not survive to become law this year. In that case, the process would have to start all over again next year. A detailed report from the Washington Post follows. Several anti-gay hate crimes in Wisconsin this year have been addressed under the provisions of the existing state hate crimes law. Most states have no such law, or a law that does not include crimes motivated by sexual orientation.
Membership is open to all who support that goal.
The provisions would extend civil rights-era federal protections to violent crimes involving gender, sexual orientation and disability and make it easier for the government to intervene in such cases. Later, the House voted 232 to 192 to instruct its conferees on the defense bill to go along with the Senate proposal. Both were influenced in part by several high-profile cases involving bigotry in the commission of crimes. President Clinton has made hate crimes protections a high priority for the last year of his administration, pushing Congress to keep the language in the defense bill. The Republican leadership made a serious mistake .