The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
October 9, 2009

House OKs Matthew Shepard Act on Hate Crimes
--------------------------------------------



The House also voted Thursday to expand the definition of hate crimes to
cover those targeted because of their sexual orientation. The measure
would grant new protections to lesbian, gay and transgender people under
federal law. The Matthew Shepard Act is named for the gay Wyoming
university student who was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left to
die in 1998.



.