Last month Pres. Obama signed the Matthew Shepard - James Byrd jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which extended the definition of federal hate crimes to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Matthew Shepard died as a result of a brutal homophobic attack in Laramie Wyoming in 1992. James Byrd Jr., and Afircan American, died in June of 1998 in Jasper Texas when he assaulted and dragged behind a truck for threee miles until his death.
Read about the bill in this article on the NAACP website, and here in the Washington Post.
