Americans Support Gay Hate Crime Law

WASHINGTON, DC -- According to a Gallup poll released Thursday, most Americans support hate crime laws and 68 percent say they support the Matthew Shepard Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to current hate crime legislation. President Bush has threatened to veto the act.

The Matthew Shepard Act (also called The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act) passed the House earlier this month and is pending in the Senate. The White House issued a statement before the House vote, pretty much saying that the President would veto the measure if it passed through Congress.

"The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as race, color, religion, or national origin However, the Administration believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable."

According to the Gallup poll, however, the American people is at odds with President Bush also on this issue. 68 percent of Americans believe the legislation should become law and the support cuts across partisan, ideological and religious lines.

The poll shows that the bill has the support of 75 percent of Democrats, 60 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Protestants and 72 percent of Catholics.

"This new national poll continues to reiterate how incredibly out of touch right wing organizations are with the will of the American people and underscores the need for the Senate to pass this bill," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

"I hope President Bush will look at this poll and realize how unbelievably out of line a threatened veto of this critical crime fighting piece of legislation is with a majority of Americans."

More than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations support the legislation which would enable the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs against people based on their sexuality.

Federal hate crime legislation already covers people on the basis of race and religion, but FBI statistics show that as many as one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim's sexual orientation.