Governor Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5952 today to add “transgender” to the definition of sexual orientation in the state’s hate crimes statute.
“The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gained much needed protection today,” Sen. Joe McDermott, D-Seattle, the bill’s sponsor said. “For too long, a population of our community has gone unrecognized in key legislation. That stops today.”
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by Jim Spellman | CNN News
A Colorado man was convicted of first-degree murder and a bias-motivated crime and sentenced to life in prison for killing a transgender teen he met on an online social networking site.
It was the first time in the nation that a state hate crime statute resulted in a conviction in a transgender person’s murder, the advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said.
Seated in the front row of the courtroom, the family of Justin “Angie” Zapata broke out in tears as the verdicts against Allen Andrade were read.
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When one of my NCLR staffers forwarded me a news article today, I thought it must have been a mistake. It detailed the suicide of an eleven-year-old boy who hung himself after relentless bullying at school. I had just read an identical article last week—the heartbreaking story about Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who, after suffering constant bullying at school, came home and committed suicide. I thought, this can’t be happening again. But the article was no mistake, this is now two reported suicides in the last week alone. Jaheem Herrera was eleven and lived in Georgia. Carl was also eleven and lived in Massachusetts. Both boys suffered the same taunts, bullying and harassment, including anti-gay epithets and attacks and both felt the same desperate need for the pain and suffering to end. Their deaths, so utterly senseless and wrong , fill me with grief, but also anger and determination. These children deserved to attend school without fear and suffering. They had a right to education, a right to safety, a right to dignity and a right to walk the hallways of their schools without dread.
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Public Hearing on LD 1020 “An Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom” and LD 1118 “An Act To Expand Rights for Maine Families” at the Augusta Civic Center, Augusta on Wednesday, April 22nd
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by Judy Harrison | Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA, Maine – Same-sex marriage supporters far outnumbered opponents as legislative hearing got under way about 9:30 a.m. today at the Augusta Civic Center. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people filled the floor and most of the side seats in the auditorium.
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