Eleven Years Later, Maybe Matthew Shepard, James Byrd, Jr., Countless Others Can Now Rest
Four thousand thirty-five days ago, Matthew Shepard, the twenty-one year old, one-hundred five pound college student died after a horrific beating that left him in a five-day coma. That same year, James Byrd, Jr., forty-nine years old, was chained to a pickup truck, dragged for miles, and ultimately decapitated. Today, after a 68-29 Senate vote last week, President Obama will sign into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is to be applauded for having introduced the Matthew Shepard Act into every Congress since 2001. Each time, it failed to make it out of committee, until 2007, when it was passed by the House but failed to make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Later that year it moved forward under Sen. Ted Kennedy, but failed when then-President George W. Bush threatened to veto it.
This hate crimes act, attached to a Department of Defense spending authorization bill, will extend protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, as well as people who are perceived by others to be so.
The bill is historic in its inclusion of transexuals.
It also expands protections by removing the requirement that the victim had to be engaged in a federally-protected act, such as voting, in order to be protected under the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law.
Unfortunately, LGBTQ leadership could have done more to partner with their counterparts in the African American Community and the religious community to make this bill a reality. This is not a “gay bill.” The Human Rights Campaign, a major LGBTQ organization, notes,
“The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the department with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.”
This bill is wide-reaching. It offers protections against those committing violent acts against members of the LGBTQ community. And the African American community. And the Caucasian community. And the Asian community. And the Roman Catholic community. And the Latino community. And countless other communities.
Like so many issues the LGBTQ community fights for, it affects many different groups. We were foolish to not enlist their support. We were foolish to present this as a “gay rights bill.”
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act helps protect everyone. We would be wise in the future to reach out to other communities to gain their support on many different issues. The LGBTQ community has members in every other community. We are everywhere. We all have many things in common.