INTOLERANCE: Hate crime laws date to 1969
http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_110215725.html
4/19/2008
"Though the recent congressional debate over legislation like the
Matthew Shepard Act — a law that would expand federal hate crime laws
to include crimes against gays, lesbians and transgenders — has put
hate crime legislation back into the spotlight, the United States is
no stranger to hate crime laws."