On Wednesday, nearly eleven years after Matthew Shepard’s tragic death, President Obama signed legislation that elevated violent acts that specifically target gays and lesbians to hate crime status, expanding the scope of a 1968 law that applies to people attacked because of their race, religion, or national origin.

The legislation, called the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was a project of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s and had been on the congressional agenda for over a decade. It is named after Shepard, a gay college student tortured and killed in 1998, as well as James Byrd Jr., a black man who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death the same year.

More News: Sarah Palin called her son 'retarded,' claims Levi Johnston...

Photo Source