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For Immediate Release: Dated May 27, 2005
From: The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC)
Chair, Vanessa Edwards Foster; Houston, Texas
Contact Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Contact Phone: 832-483-9901
Website: http://www.ntac.org
NTAC Lobbyists Hit Hill, Hate Crimes Legislation Submitted by Congress
A week after transgender lobbyists blanketed Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives submitted the first-ever transgender-inclusive Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) of was filed in the House of Representatives. The lead sponsor is John Conyers (D-Michigan) and there are currently 96 co-sponsors.
The bill (HR2662), sponsored by Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Christopher Shays (R-CT), John Conyers (D-MI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) was created to give federal protection to the victims of hate crimes. Currently LLEHCPA has 96 co-sponsors.
On May 19 and 20, National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) held its third lobbying foray on Capitol Hill, simultaneous to GenderPAC’s convention and lobby day. Yet again, a spirited group of lobbyists pressed for inclusion in both the Hate Crimes bill and the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA). After years of diligent efforts, it appears the persistence has finally paid off in the House of Representatives.
The overall news from the Hill was mixed, as the Senate appears to favor last year’s legislative language, which did not specify coverage for “gender identity.”
“We realized that we needed to make a small change to last year’s bill by explicitly including transgendered persons for protection under this bill,” said Rep. Barney Frank in a congressional press release. “It is important to carefully identify those people who are most likely to be singled out for pernicious acts.”
“This is truly welcomed news,” claimed NTAC Chair, Vanessa Edwards Foster. “After a week of disappointing visits in the Senate, this bill’s introduction was timed perfectly. We really have to give Rep. Barney Frank due credit here. He stood up strongly and insisted on our inclusion in this bill in the midst of a very dicey congressional session. That took a lot of guts. This is one issue where he’s definitely championed our cause.”
Foster also referred to the upcoming second trial set in the Gwen Araujo case in Oakland. Araujo, 17, was at a party with friends who were previously suspicious of her true gender, and who was later brutally beaten and strangled after her after confirming she was still biologically male.
“Again we are hearing the defense attorneys claim Gwen’s death was "classic manslaughter," in order to excuse her murder,” Foster said. “[The attorneys] claim the discovery of Araujo's “biological identity was a violation so deep, it's almost primal.” If loathing is so deep-seated, so primal that it has to result in extreme violence, then you have the perfect argument that Hate Crimes truly exist and must be legislated out of existence.”
In addition to the expanded coverage of gender identity, the House bill will also amend the Hate Crimes Statistics Act to include a specific category for gender identity based violence. There has never been a specific category for the FBI to track anti-transgender violence. Currently, any bias-related incidents targeting transgenders is either rolled up under sexual orientation or gender-related violence if tracked at all. Religious bias and sexual orientation bias accounted for 16.4 percent of reported single-bias hate crimes, followed by ethnic or national origin bias with 14.2 percent.
The proposed legislation would also provide assistance to the states to avail themselves of federal resources and personnel in investigating and prosecuting cases based on state law.
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Founded in 1999, NTAC - the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition - is a §501(c)(4) civil rights organization working to establish and maintain the right of all transgendered, intersexed, and gender-variant people to live and work without fear of violence or discrimination.