It's time for the Shepard Act
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=726468&category=OPINIONSteven Ralls
10/4/2008
It has been 10 years since openly gay college student Matthew Shepard was brutally killed in Wyoming. On Oct. 6, 1998, he was beaten and strung up on a fence. He died six days later.
Little has been done to curb such attacks, and elected leaders are largely missing in action when it comes to protecting our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender loved ones.
In the days and weeks immediately after Shepard's death, numerous elected leaders promised swift action to pass federal hate crimes legislation that would protect LGBT Americans.
