Tag Archives: hate crimes

“On Friday, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force released a statement saying, in part, ‘Our hearts go out to Lawrence’s family — and to all young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender kids who are — right now, right this minute — being bullied and beaten in school while adults look the other way.’ Another group, the Gay, Lesbian and …

A total of over 1000 people gathered at two locations on Friday and Saturday in Oxnard, California to honor the memory of Lawrence King, 15, an openly gay middle-school student who was shot in the head last Tuesday by Brandon McInerney, a 14 year-old fellow 8th grader. New reports suggest that days before the shooting King may have told McInerney …

Ventura County, California prosecutors have declared that the shooting of Lawrence King by 14 year-old Brandon McInerney (left) was a premeditated hate crime. McInerney’s family was in a Ventura courtroom Thursday as the adolescent was brought into a holding chamber to face charges. His arraignment was delayed to give his attorney time to review the police investigation before entering a …

Prosecutors in Oxnard, California have charged a 14 year-old boy with attempted murder (with a hate-crime enhancement) and use of a firearm in the case of Lawrence King (pictured, at unknown age), the 15 year-old gay youth shot in his 8th grade classroom yesterday. Despite reports late yesterday that King had died, he is brain-dead and remains on a ventilator …

A sad update to the California shooting: A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head at school died Wednesday, a police spokesman said. Eighth-grader Lawrence King, who was shot Tuesday during a class at E.O. Green Junior High, died at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, David Keith said. An unidentified 14-year-old classmate arrested near the school after the shooting …

A photo of Hungarian gay-bashing victims has won second place in the World Press Photo Of The Year 2007 Awards. The couple was photographed in Budapest by Zsolt Szigetváry as they awaited medical attention. First prize went to a photo of an American serviceman resting in his bunker in Afghanistan. Here’s a gallery of other winners. (Via – Jockohomo.)

Congress returns from their holiday break over the next week with three major pieces of pro-gay legislation still to be resolved: the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and the bill that ripped apart LGBT and progressive groups – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). With so many issues facing this session of Congress (the …

Democratic Senate leaders, acquiescing to their anti-war constituents, yesterday stripped the Matthew Shepard Act from the defense funding bill to which it was attached. Matthew Shepard’s mother has released a statement regarding yesterday’s decision: We are truly dismayed to find that Congress now will put aside its leadership on passage of federal hate crimes legislation that includes sexual orientation and …

From the Washington Blade: Capitol Hill sources are telling the Blade that the hate crimes measure has been stripped from the National Defense Authorization Act. The House passed a freestanding hate crimes bill in May, but lawmakers in the Senate, led by Sen. Edward Kennedy, attached it to the spending bill as part of a strategy to avoid a presidential …

A lawsuit by Christian activist group Repent America has successfully overturned the portion of Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law that covers sexual orientation and physical disability. Yesterday a state court voted 5-1 to overturn a 2002 expansion of the law, ruling that the amendment was created unconstitutionally because it was inserted into another bill covering agricultural vandalism. An as yet unapproved …

Today Nancy Pelosi is expected to announce a postponement of the final vote on the defense funding authorization bill to which the Matthew Shepard (hate crimes) Act is attached. The Out Of Iraq Caucus, a group of as many as 20 gay-supportive Democrats, are threatening to vote against the act because it would provide funding for President Bush to continue …

Yesterday a Brooklyn jury convicted Anthony Fortunado in the death of Michael Sandy (left), who was lured to a local park last year after meeting Fortunado online. At the park, Fortunado, with three accomplices, attempted to rob Sandy, who was killed by a car as he attempted to escape. Fortunado was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime and attempted …

To bolster his contention that he is gay himself and therefore not subject to hate crimes embellishments in the murder of Michael Sandy, yesterday three “older” men testified on behalf of defendant Anthony Fortunato, 21, stating that they had hooked up with Fortunato online previous to the Sandy murder. Two of the men mentioned that Fortunato had showed up at …

By a 60-39 vote, the Senate just passed the Matthew Shepard Act. Sixty votes were required for cloture. Happy day! John McCain was the missing voter. Yes/No vote tally here. In a gracious gesture after the vote, Sen. Kennedy suggested a unanimous approval of Sen. Orrin Hatch’s competing hates crimes amendment, which would merely have authorized a study of hate …

From yesterday’s HRC’s Backstory: This afternoon, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), one of the lead sponsors of the Senate hate crimes bill, took to the Senate floor to urge the Senate to pass the hate crimes bill (S. 1105) and for President Bush to sign the legislation into law. Earlier today, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture motion on the …

A year ago, I wrote about the murder of gay New Yorker Michael Sandy, who died after being struck by a car as he ran from four gay-bashers who had lured him to a Brooklyn park by picking him up on a gay chat site. After Sandy died from his injuries, police upgraded the charges to second-degree murder with hate …

Towleroad has the exclusive story about the launch of a traveling memorial to the LGBT victims of hate crimes. Scott Hall, longtime activist Frank Kameny, US. Representative Barney Frank and Amazing Race winner and activist Chip Arndt are spearheading the launch of Gay American Heroes, a national memorial to honor LGBT people murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender …

White House spokesman Tony Fratto yesterday said that President Bush plans to veto any bill to which the Matthew Shepard Act (MSA) is attached. Fratto: “The qualifications [in the bill] are so broad that virtually any crime involving a homosexual individual has potential to have hate crimes elements. The proposals they’re talking about are not sufficiently narrow.” Last month Sen. …

Lacking the 60 vote threshold needed for approval, the Department of Defense reauthorization bill (to which the Matthew Shepard Act has been attached) was just removed from consideration by Senate Majority Leader Reid. Negotiations continue to get the bill reintroduced.