"I just called Senator Begich's office to ask him to "Please SUPPORT THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT (S. 909)" which is coming up for a vote in the Senate soon," writes Marsha Buck of Alaskans Together for Equality.
"The aide or intern who took my call said she was surprised to hear that I was asking him to *support* the bill, because they are getting lots of calls today from our opponents asking him to vote against the Matthew Shepherd Act."
"This is a time when we need to raise many, many Alaskan voices to give our senators the support they need to vote with us!"
The House of Representatives passed hate crimes legislation on April 29, with a vote of 249-175. The legislation adds protection for actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability to existing protected categories such as religion, race, and ethnicity. Most law enforcement and civil rights groups support it. Don Young voted against it.
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S 909) was introduced in the Senate on April 28 "to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes." The haters are calling it protection for pedophiles.
Judy Shepard, the mother of murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard, made a video appeal for the bill.
Please call both Senator Begich and Senator Murkowski today and ask them to SUPPORT THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT (S. 909):
Senator Begich 202-224-3004
Senator Murkowski 202-224-6665
Senator Begich can be contacted by email on his website, and Senator Murkowski can be reached by email on her website. Or send the same message to both senators at the same time, watch the PSA, and find out more about the Matthew Shepard Act, at the HRC Action Center's Hate Crimes Act page.
Alaskans Together for Equality, Inc. advances civil equality for all Alaskans through grass roots organizing and advocacy.
2 comments:
Please keep all of us and those on other blogs that have cross posted, up the results.
I called both, leaving a message with the needed info on one and speaking with another aid 'live'.
I can not believe it has been 10 years and we still do not have strong laws to assist this.
We need to treat our own better!!
SRR
Thank you for calling them! The senate is expected to vote soon, and the far-right is stepping up their attacks. But this change is long overdue. Thanks for your support! I'll post the results when they vote.
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