HRC Blog

Thirteen years ago today, Matthew Shepard was attacked in a brutal hate crime.  Five days later, his young life was cruelly snuffed out by this act of anti-gay hatred.

HRC is releasing a new toolkit for states to support their efforts around hate crimes prevention. The guide provides state-specific data on current hate crime laws, highlights where laws could be stronger and offers feedback about improvements that could be made.

Rep. Bachmann not only remains silent on the dangerous increase of LGBT bullying, but has publically opposed anti-bullying legislation in the past. In 2006 Bachmann told lawmakers bullying is to be expected from “little barbarians.”

Though Rep. Michele Bachmann is working now to reshape her public persona into that of a deficit-cutter, her popularity is piggy-backed on a reputation of anti-gay rhetoric.

TWO SPIRITS is a film about Fred Martinez, a Navajo teen who didn’t want to have to choose between being a boy or a girl– he wanted to be both. According to the ancient Navaho culture, it was a gift to be born with a male body and a feminine nature. In an earlier era, he would have been revered. Instead, he was brutally murdered at the age of sixteen for embracing his identity and living the life he was born to live.