The transgender community is MISSING from major anti hate crime legaslation.
Senators feel that a leagl test would in the end include transgender. but we know how well that works.
Kate Alice
http://baywindows.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=008EC9FBCFF24AD18614290016BE1303&nm=Current+Issue&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=EA864C3C011E46F99F0E36799E888831
PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is urging Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy to revise his hate crimes bill to explicitly include protections for transgender people.
In a March 1 letter to Kennedy and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Oregon), who is also sponsoring the bill, PFLAG Executive Director Jody Huckaby raised concern that the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA), which would allow the federal investigation and prosecution of hate crimes based on sexual orientation and "actual or perceived gender" is not explicitly transgender-inclusive, unlike a version of the bill that passed the House in September 2005.
Human Rights Campaign LLEEA information page
http://hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=13358&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
Union Voice: bill language suggestion Att: to your us senator.
http://www.unionvoice.org/outandorganizing/alert-description.tcl?alert_id=1421806
I'm a bit surpised to see Sen. Smith's name on this bill. His office is pretty receptive to comments from the public.