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December 5, 2009

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Letter: Slaying a reminder of rise in hate crimes

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998 | 9:57 a.m.

The proposed Hate Crimes Prevention Act would apply to people victimized because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender or disability -- thereby offering equal protection to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and heterosexuals; transgendered Americans; woman as well as men; and Americans with disabilities.

Nevada is among the states with specific hate crimes legislation, and its coverage is fairly comprehensive. Nevada has laws specifically protecting victims of crime based on sexual orientation. Nevada legislators also took a hard stance on prosecuting hate crime offenders with last year's passage of AB164, which makes it possible for judges to impose penalties of up to 25 percent of the original sentence when hate is found to be a motivating factor in a crime.

Unfortunately, this is not true everywhere and we must remain diligent in making sure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work-school and in the community.

Vincent Frey

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