Subject: NGLTF Urges Permanent Renewal of Hate Crimes Statistics Act
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 08:27:51 -0500

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PRESS RELEASE
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
2320 17th St. NW; Washington, DC 20009
Contact: Robert Bray (415) 552-6448 [email-masked]
or Tracey Conaty (202) 332-6483 [email-masked]
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"IN MEMORY OF THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE VICTIMIZED BY HATRED"

NGLTF PUSHES FOR RENEWAL OF HATE CRIMES LAW

Washington, D.C., March 19, 1996...Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate today are
holding hearings on the reauthorization of the groundbreaking Hate Crimes
Statistics Act, which could determine if the U.S. Government will continue to
collect data on and fight bias-motivated crime -- including gay bashings.

 The Act mandates the Department of Justice to collect and analyze data on
hate crimes involving prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation,
ethnicity and disability.  The law was signed by President Bush on April 23,
1990,  who said at the time, "The faster we can find out about these hideous
crimes, the faster we can track down the bigots who commit them."  The
hearings, held today in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, are in advance of
the introduction of the bill by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Paul Simon
(D-Ill).  Hatch chairs the Senate Committee.

 The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) has submitted testimony
calling on Congress to reauthorize the Act and step up its efforts to combat
bias crimes.

 "In memory of the thousands of persons victimized by hatred and intolerance
since passage of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act...NGLTF respectfully and
strongly urges a permanent mandate for the Act," said Helen Gonzales, NGLTF
director of Public Policy, in the submitted testimony.  "There have been many
words from our elected officials on the need to be 'tough on crime.'  This is
an opportunity to transform that rhetoric into action."
 
 NGLTF, which played a leadership role in passage of the original bill -- the
first piece of federal legislation to affirmatively include sexual
orientation -- cautioned the Senate that the circumstance originally
motivating the bill remain in 1996.

 "Whole communities continue to be intimidated and threatened by heinous acts
of violence," said the statement.  Last week the National Coalition of
Anti-Violence Programs reported more than 2,200 anti-gay/lesbian incidents
were documented in 1995 in 11 cities across the country.  Twelve states still
offer no deterrent to these crimes in the form of state laws that provide for
mandatory data collection or enhanced penalties.  Twenty states have hate
crime laws that do not include crimes based on sexual orientation.

 Since the law was originally passed the FBI has documented 25,439
hate-motivated crimes.  These incidents reflect only a fraction of the actual
number of incidents.  For example, for those same years, 1991-94, gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender anti-violence projects in five cities alone
reported a total of 6,861 anti-gay incidents.

 Also in that time, the number of law enforcement agencies participating in
HCSA in some manner has increased every year, from 2,800 in 1991 to 7,200 in
1994, though only a portion of the agencies documented bias-related
incidents. The FBI has distributed hate crime data collection information and
educational materials to 16,000 law enforcement agencies.  The agency has
trained more than 3,000 law enforcement officials from some 900 agencies.

 At the original signing of the bill, the opening of the national toll-free
hate crimes hotline to report episodes of crimes was announced.  The hotline
initially did not document reports of anti-gay violence, but eventually did
agree to receive those calls after pressure from NGLTF and others.
 Unfortunately, last year funding was terminated for the hotline.

 "Funding should be allocated to ensure training of all law enforcement
personnel on the identification and documentation of bias crimes," said the
NGLTF testimony.  "We also recommend the re-establishment of the hotline in
conjunction with comprehensive training for all its operators,  and a
vigorous publicity and public education campaign promoting its use."

 NGLTF encourages all people concerned about hate crime to call their
Senators at (202)224-3121 and urge them to co-sponsor the bill or thank them
for their sponsorship.  In 1984, NGLTF conducted the first national study
focusing exclusively on anti-gay violence.  Two years before that, the Task
Force created an anti-violence project to promote an official response to the
plague of violence and harassment perpetrated against gays, lesbians,
bisexuals and transgender people.

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