PFLAG Celebrates House Passage of Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Organization Urges the Senate to Approve 'Critically Important' Legislation

WASHINGTON, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) applauded today's vote, in the House of
Representatives, approving The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention
Act, which would add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and
disability status to the federal hate crimes statute. The House approved the
measure by a vote of 249 to 175, and similar legislation was introduced on
Tuesday in the Senate. President Obama has expressed his strong support for
the bill, and urged lawmakers to support it.

"The critically important bill approved by the House today would give law
enforcement officials a powerful weapon in battling the nearly 1,000 anti-gay
and transgender hate crimes reported each year, and give victims and their
families hope that our country will finally take serious steps to curb those
attacks," said Jody M. Huckaby, PFLAG's executive director. "Too many families
have lost a loved one to hate, and this bill would ensure that, moving
forward, other families will be able to more easily seek, and find, justice in
bias-motivated cases. This measure, which was supported by 31 attorneys
general and more than 200 organizations from both sides of the political
aisle, is long overdue and urgently needed. PFLAG families urge the Senate to
quickly approve the measure as well, and send the bill to President Obama for
his signature."

Hate crimes against the LGBT community increased 24 percent nationwide in
2007, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.
Especially startling increases occurred in Michigan (up 207 percent),
Minnesota (up 135 percent) and even in Los Angeles, which saw a 100 percent
increase in anti-gay violence. Anti-gay murders also doubled during the same
period, the coalition reported.

PFLAG recently launched an online petition, in conjunction with the mother of
Sean Kennedy, a young man in South Carolina who was brutally attacked and
killed outside of a gay bar, urging lawmakers to approve the hate crimes bill.
More than 9,300 people used the petition to contact Congress in support of the
measure.

"There is no more important action our elected leaders can take than to
protect those we love, and this law does just that," Huckaby said. "For the
countless families who have lost loved ones to hate, it cannot reach the
President's desk soon enough."

PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with
an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and
advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue
about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society
that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

SOURCE Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

Steve Ralls of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG),
+1-202-467-8180, ext. 214, sralls@pflag.org