Editor's Note: The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act was expected to come to a vote in House in last week.  The bill would add affectional orientation to the list of categories covered under hate-crimes.  Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was able to use her position as Democratic House Leader to offer a "motion to instruct" — informing conference committee members that a bipartisan majority of the House wants it to pass - the motion passed 213-186, but the Republican House Leader, aptly named Tom "DeLay", continues to stall the measure. 

It was almost six years ago that we learned the name Matthew Shepherd. We might someday have learned about how this bright, kind and compassionate man contributed to our country.  But we learned Matthew Shepard’s name because of the terrible way he was killed on October 12, 1998.

We still remember the fence where Matthew died.  His brutal murder opened our country’s eyes to the hatred and violence that many gays and lesbians endure.  Yet here we are, almost six years later, with a president who refuses to support legislation barring hate crimes based on sexual orientation.

According to the FBI, crimes committed in 2002 due to bias based on sexual orientation represent 1 in 6 of reported hate crime incidents.  There were more than 1200 incidents and 1500 victims in 2002 alone. 

John Kerry and I want an America that is stronger at home and more respected in the world.  We know we cannot achieve that goal until we recognize that all Americans, including gays and lesbians, are part of the fabric of America’s family.  And when it comes to family, we must protect each other.  We must recognize that crimes against people because of their race, religion, or sexual orientation have no place in America.

That is why John Kerry and I firmly support the bipartisan legislation that will add new protections against hate crimes motivated by the real or perceived sexual orientation of the victim.  George Bush has said that this kind of legislation amounts to “special rights.”  But there’s nothing special about the right to be free from hateful violence.  In America, people ought to be able to take that right for granted.

As Judy Shepard, Matthew' s mother, has said, "Matt is no longer with us today because the men who killed him learned to hate. Somehow and somewhere they received the message that the lives of gay people are not as worthy of respect, dignity and honor as the lives of other people."  Keep her words in your thoughts, and on November 2nd, I urge you to vote for John Kerry—-in memory of Matthew Shepard and the thousands of other Americans whose lives have been cut short for no other reason than being themselves. 

John Edwards is the Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate, and will appear in a debate with current Vice President Select DickHead Cheney this evening (Tuesday 10/05/04).