Just minute ago, the U.S. Senate voted 64-35 to invoke cloture on the $680 billion Defense Department Appropriations Bill, that includes the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill. This means the bill is fillibuster-proof. The Senate did decide to allow thirty hours of debate on the bill, so, we’re not home yet. But chances are good that the bill, recently renamed as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, will pass.
Fingers crossed.
Sadly, there will be not formal signing ceremony for the bill, as it is attached to a DOD bill, and given Obama’s inaction on repealing DADT, that would be awkward.
Stay tuned for updates when the final vote happens, later tonight or tomorrow.
Chris Geidner offered an in-depth exam of the bill a few weeks ago: “Hate Crimes Act Makes Conference Report, Death Penalty Gone“
Related posts:
- 68 -29: Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill Passes! On To Obama!
- Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill Passes House
- BREAKING: Senate Gives Matthew Shepard Bill Major Lifeline
- Did Your Rep Vote Today Against Matthew Shepard?
- Do It Now: Hate Crimes Bill This Week!
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People have the right to raise questions. Why did Matthew Shepard get in a car with straight Texan guys in the middle of the night? Recently in a Newsweek interview, his mother said that Matthew had a "dark side." Since Matthew obviously had "gaydar," he knew he was going out with straight guys. Did he seek out dangerous situations with heterosexual males? (please note: I once had a boyfriend who pursued straight guys relentlessly. He was really sick).
In a March, 1999 interview with Vanity Fair, Judy Shepard discussed that while Matthew was on vacation in Morocco during his senior year in high school, a gang there raped him. Again, it seems that Matthew Shepherd put himself in a dangerous situation with straight males (I've been to Morocco many times and people don't just get dragged off the street and raped).
Obviously, Shepard didn't deserve to be murdered, but it is doubtful that he was the saintly martyr he is made out to be.
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