Florida's U.S. Senators split vote on LGBT hate crime legislation
October 25, 11:13 AM
William Skordelis
http://www.examiner.com/x-18527-Broward-County-Liberal-Examiner~y2009m10d25-Florida-Senators-split-vote-on-LGBT-hate-crime-legislationIn Broward County, 25 hate crimes were reported in 2008, the most of any county in Florida. This figure is lower than the 50 Broward hate crimes reported in 2006, but 47 percent higher than the 17 hate crimes reported in 2007. Of the 25 hate crimes reported in Broward, nine (36 percent) were based on sexual orientation, 10 (40 percent) were based on race, and six (24 percent) were based on religion.
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed The Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a vote of 68-29 which will elevate biased-motivated crimes against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people to a federal offense to be prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department. Crimes motivated by bias against a specific social group have generally been defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, or political affiliation, now includes gender identity and sexual orientation. Senator Bill Nelson, D-FL voted for the bill, while Republican Senator George Lemiuex, R-FL voted against it.
