State avoids hate crime legislation

[Natasha]

State avoids hate crime legislation

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/10/11/news/wyoming/3773a0b71ebef1ff872574df00211e93.txt
10/11/2008

CHEYENNE -- The stakes were high in 1999 as the Wyoming Legislature
commenced debate on a hate crime bill in the wake of the murder of gay
University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.

State lawmakers for the first time were being forced to consider a
bill that addressed the issue of sexual orientation, and they were
doing it under the scrutiny of the national and international news
media.

The result was a "bitter floor debate of high emotions," recalled Sen.
Mike Massie, a Democrat who supported the bill and counted Shepard as
a constituent in his Senate district in Laramie.