Obama Signs Historic Federal LGBT Hate Crimes Legislation

After remarks on the Department of Defense authorization bill, President Barack Obama moments ago recognized Judy and Dennis Shepard and the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy before signing the bill, which contains the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Bill, into law.

Said Obama: “Now, speaking of that, there is one more long-awaited change contained within this legislation that I’ll be talking about a little more later today. After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we’ve passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are. I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I’m glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I’m also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who’s here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day — make this day possible. So — and thank you for joining us here today. (Applause.) So, with that, I’m going to sign this piece of legislation.”

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