House Passes Hate Crimes Bill

TTPC Praises House of Representatives For Passing Hate Crimes Legislation

On Thursday, May 3, the United States House of Representatives passed the
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. The vote was 237 to
180. Two Tennesseans voted in favor of making it a federal crime to engage in
acts of violence against various groups, including those who are gay, lesbian,
bisexual, or transgender (GLBT). Please contact Jim Cooper and Steve Cohen
and thank them for their support:

Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) 202-225-3265 http://cohen.house.gov
Jim Cooper (D-Nashville) 202-225-4311
http://www.house.gov/cooper


In 2007 alone, numerous hate crimes against GLBT persons have been documented
in the State of Tennessee. On January 7, Nakia Baker, a transgender woman
living in Nashville, was found shot to death in a parking lot. On February 27,
a transgender man living in Chattanooga was physically beaten by a neighbor.
He had filed complaints before this and had only received insults and threats
from the Chattanooga Police Department. Despite witnesses identifying the
assailants, the Chattanooga Police Department have made no arrests. On March 29,
a teenaged gay male student at Cumberland County High School was brutally
beaten by a fellow student. School officials were forced to use a taser on the
student doing the beating in order to stop it. On April 5, a gay male resident
of McMinnville found death threats and other hateful statements written on
his home. On April 18, anti-GLBT graffiti was written across the campus of the
University of Tennessee at Martin.

These incidents are in addition to others from 2006 including the murder of
Tiffany Baker, a transgender woman who was shot to death on the steps of her
Memphis apartment in February 2006, and of the burning cross found in the yard
of a gay man living in Athens, Tennessee, in the summer of 2006.

The Judiciary Committee cited FBI figures that there have been more than
113,000 hate crimes since 1991, including 7,163 in 1995. It said that racially
motivated bias accounted for 55 percent of those incidents, religious bias for 17
percent, sexual orientation bias for 14 percent and ethnicity bias for 14
percent.

Hate Crimes legislation now moves to the Senate. The bill number is S.1105.

The State of Tennessee Hate Crimes law does not cover gender identity or
expression. The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) joins many other
groups across the nation in support of S.1105. It is time to send a message
that violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people will not
be tolerated. The board and members of TTPC encourage all to contact members
of the United States Senate and ask them to vote "Yes" on S.1105. Tennessee's
Senators are:

Lamar Alexander (R)
202-224-4944 http://alexander.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Bob Corker (R)
202-224-3344 http://corker.senate.gov

Marisa Richmond
President

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) is an organization
designed to educate and advocate on behalf of transgender related legislation at
the Federal, State and local levels. TTPC is dedicated to raising public
awareness and building alliances with other organizations concerned with equal rights
legislation.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact:

Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC)
P.O. Box 92335
Nashville, TN 37209
http://ttgpac.com
TTGPAC@aol.com
(615)293-6199
(615)353-1834 fax