Senate Democrats have added a hate crimes amendment to a major defense policy bill that has little to do with defense issues but would almost guarantee a presidential veto if the amended bill passes.
The amendment would broaden those protected against hate crimes to include sexual orientation and gender identity, which Republican conservatives say would threaten the freedom of groups that preach that homosexuality and certain lifestyle choices are a sin.
The measure will be considered in a test vote Thursday that will require the support of 60 senators to proceed with the measure.
“It’s an attempt to silence people of faith,” said Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, which defines itself as a grassroots church lobby.
Lafferty said if the legislation becomes law, clergy could become liable for crimes committed against gays or transsexuals by those who hear their sermons.
Proponents of the legislation say it would provide much-needed protection for gays and transsexuals and would improve hate crime prosecution by allowing the Justice Department to assist local police in cases in which a hate crime is suspected in a death or injury.
The amendment would also provide $10 million to be distributed in smaller grants to jurisdictions that incur “extraordinary expenses” prosecuting hate crimes and for programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who authored the measure along with Sen. Gordon H. Smith, R-Ore., said the amendment belongs on the Defense policy bill because members of the military have also been victims of hate crimes.
“Hate crimes are a form of domestic terrorism,” Kennedy said. “They send the poisonous message that some Americans deserve to be victimized solely because of who they are.”
The Senate has rejected similar hate crimes legislation in past years, and Thursday may be no different.
Senate Republicans, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said, were expected to help defeat the provision and instead support an alternative bySen. Orrin G. Hatch that would call for the federal government to study the need for hate crimes legislation.
“Let’s first see if there is any remote need for a massive expansion of what we’ve had in the past,” said Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss.
The amendment is titled the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, after a University of Wyoming student who was beaten to death because he was gay.
