President Signs New Federal Hate Crimes Law As Part Of Defense Authorization Bill That Is Controversial For Its Inclusion Of Sexual Orientation

President Obama has made the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land. It was signed as part of the the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. President Obama said in a statement that "through this law, we will strengthen the protections against crimes based on the color of your skin, the faith in your heart, or the place of your birth. We will finally add federal protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation... And prosecutors will have new tools to work with states in order to prosecute to the fullest those who would perpetrate such crimes. Because no one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love. No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are or because they live with a disability."

Some Christian leaders took issue with the new law. American Family Association President Tim Wildmon warned that the new law "creates a kind of caste system in law enforcement, where the perverse thing is that people who engage in non-normative sexual behavior will have more legal protection than heterosexuals. This kind of inequality before the law is simply un-American." The Alliance Defense Fund blasted the "hate-crimes" bill, calling it "another nail in the coffin of the First Amendment." ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said that "ADF has clearly seen the evidence of where 'hate crimes' legislation leads when it has been tried around the world: It paves the way for the criminalization of speech that is not deemed 'politically correct.'" Tweet