Yesterday, Republicans in Congress removed provisions that would extend hate crimes status to violent crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation and disability from the defense authorization bill, eliminating any possibility that such protections would be codified by law in this legislative session. The language was added to the defense authorization bill after Republicans refused to consider the bill on its own. While the Senate voted 57-42 in favor of including hate crimes protection based on gender, sexual orientation, and disability, the House yesterday rejected the Senate’s provisions in a conference committee vote of 11-9, largely determined along party lines. Democrats in Congress stated that they will continue to fight for hate crimes protections.
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