HRC Blog

One year ago today, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA). The act, the first federal law to provide protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, was passed after tireless advocacy from a broad coalition of organizations and most importantly, the selfless efforts of Judy and Dennis Shepard. HCPA was not able to address the tragic death of college student Matthew Shepard, but while honoring his memory, recourse is given to the families who have been touched by hate crimes.

HRC today released its Congressional Scorecard for the 111th Congress that rates members of Congress on their support for issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. An analysis of the data demonstrates a stark polarization with increases in both highly supportive and highly anti-LGBT legislators. The average score for House members was 50.8 percent and 57.3 percent for Senators.

Many of us who are LGBT have endured poor treatment—slights, looks, subtle hostilities. Few of us have our homes burned down because of it. This is what appears to have happened several days ago to Carol Ann and Laura Stutte, long-time life partners who have been together for 15 years and are raising a daughter in the small town of Vonore, Tennessee, just south of Knoxville.

Today, GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, released its National School Climate Survey, which documents the experiences of LGBT students from across the country. The 2009 National School Climate Survey shows that while progress has been made in providing safe schools for LGBT youth, much work remains to be done. Among the report’s key findings: • 84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed and 18.8% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.

Yesterday, Judge Thomas Ludington of the U.S. Federal Court for the District of Eastern Michigan dismissed the case of three plaintiffs seeking to strike the criminal provisions of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.