Human Rights Campaign Launches Website to Push for Federal Hate Crimes Bill

April 8, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference

This week, the Human Rights Campaign launched a new website to push for passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA).

FightHateNow.org provides background information on the LLEHCPA, features photos and videos about the devastating impact of hate crimes, and allows website visitors to directly contact their members of Congress to support the bill.

The LLEHCPA, introduced in the House last week, will authorize the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute certain bias-motivated crimes based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Currently, the federal government can only investigate hate crimes motivated by the victim's race, color, religion, and national origin.

It would also provide local authorities with more resources to combat hate crimes and give the federal government jurisdiction over prosecuting hate crimes in states where the current law is inadequate.

In this video from the new site, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, explains why the LLEHCPA is an important civil rights bill.