Judy tells
us why Congress dropped the Matthew Shepard Act,
what her next step will be, and how the 10-year
anniversary of Matt's murder will not pass quietly.
Why is the
Matthew Shepard Act a hard sell? You'd think a bill designed
to protect minorities from violence would sail through
Congress. Well, last week we discovered that's not the
case, as House leaders dropped the legislation from a
defense bill, saying it didn't have the votes to pass.
A little
background: Our president has long vowed to veto the Matthew
Shepard Act, legislation that would have protected LGBT
people as well as disabled people from hate crimes. So
to get around Bush, the Senate attached the bill to a
military spending measure the president would
have had difficulty saying no to. It passed the Senate, but
when it got to the House -- which had previously
passed a similar, stand-alone hate-crimes bill that is
now in limbo -- it became clear that the newer
bill didn't have the support it needed. Many liberal
Democrats would have voted against the bill since it
authorized war spending, and many
conservative Republicans would have voted no because
they don't want the current hate-crimes law changed
(appeasing their constituencies, they claim). So the
hate-crimes provision was stripped from the defense
bill.
If it ever
passes, the Matthew Shepard Act would give federal
authorities greater leeway to participate in
hate-crime investigations and step in if local
authorities are unwilling or unable to act. The bill's death
was a blow to Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts,
who sponsored the act, and Judy Shepard, mother of the
slain gay man for whom the bill is named. Contacting
The Advocate from outside the country, Judy
expressed both sadness and optimism.
Of course you’re disappointed. Are you surprised
about what happened with the bill?
You know, I am. I thought that once it went
through the Senate, once it was attached to the
defense bill, that it would not come out. In
conference we knew [its removal] was a possibility
because of the division in the House over the defense
bill at large -- certain people, and other people not
wanting the hate-crime bill no matter where it
appears. So we knew there would be a discussion, but it
never crossed my mind once that it would be yanked.
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