AG Eric Holder Lauds LGBT Triumphs In Goodbye Speech To Justice Department

Attorney General Eric Holder has left the building. But not before a press conference in which he righteously spiked the ball about the LGBT triumphs seen during his tenure. Moments ago the Department Of Justice joined in on Twitter by posting the above photo. Earlier today the DOJ posted the below recap of Holder's life and six years with the Obama administration. When the history books of this time in our movement are written, Eric Holder should have his own chapter. Maybe two.

President Obama Marks Fifth Anniversary Of Signing The Matthew Shepard Act

Via White House press release:

Five years ago, I was proud to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act into law – a law that strengthened the protections against crimes based on the color of our skin, the love in our hearts, the faith we practice, or the place of our birth.

This law gave the Justice Department new tools for prosecuting criminals. It directed new resources to law enforcement agencies, so they could better serve their communities. And it did what we want all our laws to do: it reflected and strengthened our core national values. By recognizing violent bigotry as an especially dangerous crime – one that not only harms individuals, but threatens the social fabric that binds our country together – the Shepard Byrd Hate Crimes Act has made it possible for more Americans to live freely, openly and safely, and has reinforced our nation’s sacred commitment to equality for all.

Since this law was passed, the FBI and Department of Justice have vigorously investigated and prosecuted dozens of hate crime cases nationwide, including attacks on minorities, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities. The number of individuals charged with hate crimes has increased significantly over the past five years. And state and local law enforcement officers and other community members have received training in how to recognize and address hate crimes. The law is working.

Our job isn’t done. We must continue to stand together against intolerance and hate wherever they occur, and respond decisively when they lead to violence. Ours is a country built on the notion that all people are created equal. It’s up to us to make that ideal real, in our words and deeds as well as in our laws – to ensure that, in America, everyone is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, no matter who they are or who they love.

Sullivan Backs Matthew Shepard Truthers

"The question here is whether the crime was solely a function of the homophobic hatred of two strangers who beat up and brutally murdered someone merely because he was gay. That’s the official line of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign. Of course these motives could also have been involved. I’m arguing that meth can explain all of it, but may not be the only factor involved. I can’t read the meth-addled minds of the foul murderers. I can detect bullshit from the gay rights establishment. No one wants to confess a meth robbery gone haywire, and they may have thought the gay panic defense might work – and it didn’t. The Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign should not be smearing and demonizing good faith work by a courageous openly gay journalist. They need to apologize, and correct the record. At some point, their convenient untruth must stop." - Andrew Sullivan, responding to the uproar that followed after the Guardian this week published an essay in praise of the widely-debunked book which claims that Shepard's murder was not an anti-gay hate crime. Sullivan has long opposed hate crimes laws.

RELATED: Media Matters' Carlos Maza reports on the flap.

On October 25, The Guardian published an article by columnist Julie Bindel titled "The truth behind America's most famous gay-hate murder." The report focuses on the widely discredited 2013 book The Book of Matt, in which author Stephen Jimenez attempts to make the case that Matthew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998 was drug-related and not, as it is widely believed, motivated by anti-gay hate.

The book has been criticized for relying on shoddy sources and omitting key facts about the case, prompting the Matthew Shepard Foundation to condemn the book for being based on rumors and innuendo. Jimenez's book has been described as "fictional" by the lead detective in the case. People familiar with the murder - including one of the killer's appellate attorneys, Albany County Sheriff Dave O'Malley, and Albany County Undersheriff Robert Debree - have condemned the book as factually challenged.

But Bindel didn't include those criticisms in her piece. Instead, she portrayed Jimenez as a victim of gay activists' blind desire to hide the truth about Shepard's murder. It's unclear why Bindel failed to mention the numerous flaws with Jimenez's book. She has previously been criticized for claiming that she chose to be gay and for making inflammatory comments about the transgender community.

Excerpts from the book have been published on many anti-gay sites and hate groups leaders frequently cite it as evidence that hate crimes laws are unneeded and exist only to stifle Christianity.

HRC Praises Obama's LGBT Record

DADT, hate crimes, marriage, and much more.

COMPILATION: Gay News In The 2000s

JMG reader Dave Evans has compiled 40 minutes of gay-related news clips that aired in the 2000s. Among the topics: Lawrence V Texas, the Hate Crimes Act, Massachusetts marriage, Proposition 8, DADT, and DOMA.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Compilations of gay news in the 1970s, gay news in the 1980s, gay news in the 1990s, and the first ten years of HIV/AIDS.

Guilty Plea In Federal Hate Crime Case

For the second time since the adoption of the Matthew Shepard Act, the federal government has won a conviction for an anti-gay hate crime. Via White House press release:

Everett Dwayne Avery, 36, of Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty in federal court today to a federal hate crime, admitting that he assaulted a victim because he believed the victim was gay, the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Robert D. Foley, III announced today.

During the time of the plea, Avery admitted that on March 7, 2011, he struck the victim in the face while they were customers at a convenience store in Detroit because he believed that the victim was gay. The victim suffered a fractured eye socket and other facial injuries as a result.

“Hate-fueled incidents have no place in a civilized society,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to using all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal, including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, to prosecute acts of violence motivated by hate.” Avery faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28, 2012, before Judge John Corbett O’Meara.

Do you think the DOJ would aggressively pursue these cases under a Romney administration?

A Major Whoopsie For Oklahoma's Haters

Remember when Oklahoma lawmakers passed a bill declaring the state exempt from the Matthew Shepard Act? It turns out the asshats cited the wrong federal bill number in their legislation and Oklahoma is actually now exempt from federal laws about reporting racial and religious discrimination.

In trying to strip gays and lesbians of their rights, the Oklahoma State Senate inadvertently cited the wrong section of the U.S. code. The bill stripped protections under Title 18 U.S. Code Section 245, but protections for sexual orientation and gender identity is actually under Section 249. From the bill:

Section 24A.12. Except as otherwise provided by state or local law, the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma and agency attorneys authorized by law, the office of the district attorney of any county of the state, and the office of the municipal attorney of any municipality may keep its litigation files and investigatory reports confidential, except they shall keep their litigation files and investigatory reports confidential upon request of any federal agency when such request is made for the purpose of an attempt to investigate or prosecute an individual or individuals pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 245, except for those records of any individuals convicted pursuant to Section 850 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

Section 245 of the Code refers to race and religious protections. Therefore, Oklahoma actually passed a statute allowing state law enforcement officials to keep information about crimes motivated by race or religion out of the hands of federal authorities.

Today: "Rally For Religious Freedom"

Pretty much every Christianist loon you've ever heard of will be outside the Department of Justice in Washington DC at 1:30pm today to protest the recently passed hate crimes act. Wild-eyed luminaries such as Matt Barber, Peter LaBarbera, Gary Cass, Bishop Harry Jackson and their coterie of crazies will be attempting to incite their own arrest by "preaching the Biblical truth about homosexuality."

The Rally for Religious Freedom is meant to raise alarm over the nation's new Federal "hate crimes" law just passed by Congress and signed last month by President Obama. The intention of the rally is to assert the freedom of speech of ministers and Christians in general to declare biblical truth in the public square. The Rally will also expose the unconstitutional nature of the hate law. Ministers from various denominations will preach from the Bible, especially those parts that speak to the sin of homosexuality. This will serve to reassure ministers and Christians that they are free to do the same. A letter from Matt Staver of Liberty Council will be presented to Attorney General Eric Holder that expresses our concerns about the many unconstitutional aspects of the hate crime bill. Specific legal challenges also may be announced then.

Just like Matt Barber and Peter LaBarbara have claimed that commenters here on JMG have made terrorist threats, Christian Anti-Defamation Commission head Gary Cass is now claiming to have gotten an email about today's event which says, "I'll be in Washington on the 16th and I know what you look like." Cass' press release goes on to retread Barber's unfounded accusations about this blog, which Barber repeated again this weekend, this time for the widely-read Townhall.com, home to fellow columnists Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh, among other nutters. This time, in a column titled 'Gay' Jihad, Barber whines that the mainstream press has refused to pick up the story.

Those who either threaten or attempt to incite terrorism must be immediately brought to justice. Churches and Christian leaders around the country need to be on high alert. These threats of homosexual activist terrorism must be taken very seriously. Of course, just as most mainstream media have sheepishly caved to the dictates of political correctness in refusing to call Muslim terrorist, Nidal Malik Hasan, a “Muslim terrorist” – they too have blacked-out the story surrounding these homosexualist threats of terror. It doesn’t fit the PC narrative, you see. Islam is really a “peaceful religion,” right? And homosexual activists? Well, they’re the victims, not the victimizers. They’re the targets of “hate crimes” not the architects. It seems the mainstream media are likewise bent on strapping a suicide bomb to any last remnant of journalistic credibility.

Here's the list of grandstanding nutjobs pretending that they risk being arrested today.

The official list of speakers and participating organizations now includes: Pierre Bynum of Family Research Council, Rick Scarborough of Vision America, Gary Cass of the Christian Anti Defamation Commission, Bishop Earl Jackson of STAND America, Paul Blair of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, Steve Kern of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, Dan Fisher of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, Mat Staver of Liberty Council, Matt Barber of Liberty Council, Paul Diamond of Christian Legal Centre in London, Jim Garlow of Protect Marriage CA, Janet Porter of Faith2Action, J. Grace Harley of Jesus is the Answer Ministry, Pat Mahoney of Christian Defense Coalition, Richard Land &/or Barrett Duke of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Gordon Klingenshmitt of Pray in Jesus Name, and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth.

A sample comment from Barber's Townhall piece:

Don't push this too far, gay men. There's a reason why gay men were brutally repressed in every society until the Western Societies of the past 20 years -- the potential forces of violence arrayed against you are infinitely greater than anything you can muster. Everything you enjoy now is "dependent on the kindness of strangers" Stay tolerant to get tolerance. You may have pushed things as far as they can go. If so, live with it. If you break down religion you may also break down the institutions that restrain violence being visited on you.

My goodness, that's at least as "terroristic" as JMG reader Fritz's now famous worry. Call the FBI!

RELATED: Among Townhall's commenters on Barber's post is notorious Rev. Steve Anderson (as Anderson659), who famously has some real problems with the FBI after announcing that he was praying for the death of President Obama.

Pat Robertson Lies About Hate Crimes Act

Pat Robertson flat out lies to his audience on The 700 Club. Again. Via Crooks & Liars:

His basis for opposing the law, however, is completely detached from reality. For instance, Robertson argues:

Robertson: You know, there’s a law – what about a law that says it’s a federal crime to attack somebody because of his religious beliefs? Not a chance!

Robertson seems completely unaware that in fact religious bias is one of the categories of bias crime covered by hate-crime laws -- and it has been from the very start, since these laws were first enacted on the state level in the early 1980s!

Hint to Pat: Religion was covered as a bias category from the start because Jews have long been some of the most common victims of bias crimes. For instance, in the FBI's hate-crime statistics for 2007, some 1,400 of the nation's 7,600 or so reported bias crimes were of the "anti-religion" category; of those, some 118 were varieties of anti-Christian bias.

Indeed, he needs only read the text of the the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act to see that religion is one of the categories of bias it covers:

“(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person—

It's not even surprising anymore, is it?

Obama Signs Hate Crimes Act

A significant and historic step in our journey was achieved today when President Obama signed the hate crimes act. The wingnuts are screaming their heads off, but the day is ours. At last.

Tomorrow: President Obama To Sign Hate Crimes Bill

On Wednesday, President Obama will sign the hate crimes bill into law in a White House ceremony as Matthew Shepard's family looks on. I should have a link to the live stream of the event available here early in the day.

Matthew Shepard Act PASSES, On Way To President's Desk

After years and years and years of work, tonight the Matthew Shepard Act passed its final congressional hurdle and at long last is on its way to President Obama's desk for final approval.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation rejoices:

Today, the United States Senate took an historic step toward ensuring justice for the victims of hate crimes targeted for violence due to their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.

“Dennis and I are extremely proud of the Senate for once again passing this historic measure of protection for victims of these brutal crimes,” said Judy Shepard, president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board. “Knowing that the president will sign it, unlike his predecessor, has made all the hard work this year to pass it worthwhile. Hate crimes continue to affect far too many Americans who are simply trying to live their lives honestly, and they need to know that their government will protect them from violence, and provide appropriate justice for victims and their families.”

By voting overwhelmingly to extend to these often-targeted Americans our nation’s decades-old bias crime legislation, senators sent the message that hate crimes will not go unpunished, and local governments and law enforcement agencies will not run out of financial resources to provide justice to these victims and their loved ones.

A wonderful day for LGBT people and a historic day for America! Onward to DADT, DOMA, and ENDA.

Senate: Hate Crimes Act Achieves Cloture

Breaking news from HRC Backstory:

The U.S. Senate today achieved cloture (the procedural step to limit debate and proceed toward a vote) on the Department of Defense Authorization Conference Report of which the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a part by a vote of 64 to 35. The Senate will now proceed with debate on the Conference Report followed by a vote on final passage.

Almost there....

PhoboQuotable - Tim Wildmon

"In its never-ending quest to shred America's Judeo-Christian value system, the left is planning to hurriedly push through a 'thought crimes' bill. So-called 'hate crimes' laws are really laws that criminalize thought, because they punish an individual not for what he did but for what he thought. Politically incorrect thoughts about homosexual behavior will result in enhanced criminal sanctions under this law. Everywhere hate crimes laws have gone into effect, they have been quickly used to intimidate, silence and punish people of faith who express deeply held religious objections to the normalization of homosexuality.

"Such laws not only punish officially disapproved speech and thought, they create two tiers of victims. Under hate crimes laws, some victims get more protections than others, which violates the fundamental American principle of equality under the law. In fact, such laws actively discriminate against heterosexual Christians who are victims of crime, since they will get less legal protection than homosexual victims. And since 'sexual orientation' is nowhere defined in the legislation, this law will give pedophiles, voyeurs, and exhibitionists special protections, which is why the bill has correctly been called "The Pedophile Protection Act." - American Family Association president Tim Wildmon, in an emailed ActionAlert! to his fellow bigots.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX): Hate Crimes Bill Will Legalize Bestiality, Corpse-Fucking, Pedophilia, Lead To Nazism

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX): Hate Crimes Act Is Holding Soldiers Hostage

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) vehemently opposes the Matthew Shepard Act and says attaching it to a defense appropriations act is "holding soldiers hostage." He then go on to spout the usual lies that preachers will be dragged from the pulpits and charged with hate crimes for preaching against homosexuality.

PFOX: Hate Crimes Laws Are "Anti-Ex-Gay"

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays are opposing the Matthew Shepard Act, a honking contradiction since they wildly celebrated their recent inclusion in Washington DC's list of sexual orientation protections. But no one ever accused the "ex-gays" of making sense. Washington City Paper's Amanda Hess:

Let’s try to pick that one apart, shall we? According to PFOX, hate crime laws protecting gays and lesbians themselves constitute hate crimes against ex-gays. Because if you tell people that they can’t beat up people because they’re gay, you discriminate against the people who beat up gay people because they are gay! It is you who are committing the “anti-ex-gay hate crime,” because if people aren’t allowed to hate gay people, how will PFOX ever find any ex-gay people? Shame on you all!

Everybody got that?

Senate Approves Final Hate Crimes Bill

Last night the Senate approved their final version of defense appropriations bill to which the Matthew Shepard Act is attached. During the August recess, staffers from the House and Senate will meet in a conference committee to hammer out the differences between their two versions. In September we should see a vote by both chambers on the compromise bill. Fingers crossed.

McCain Mad About Hate Crimes Act

And he finds a sympathetic audience in the Fox hosts. Of course.

Senate Strips F-22 Funding From DoD Bill

The U.S. Senate just voted to strip funding for the F-22 fighter jet from the defense appropriations bill to which the Matthew Shepard Act is attached, clearing the way for President Obama to sign it. The bill continues to be discussed and tomorrow the Senate will vote on whether to remove another unrelated amendment, one that permits gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines. And on and on it goes....