The Matthew Shephard Act

Coming soon as "an amendment attached to an unrelated bill on tourism" — Senate to Approve Hate Crimes Law Via Tourism Bill Today or Tomorrow. What it means:

The legislation includes “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” with race, religion, class, gender, and disability to categories that are protected as "hate crimes.” Under this legislation, crimes against individuals who belong to the protected classes receive stiffer penalties than crimes against other groups not mentioned by the bill, a fact that critics charge makes “second class citizens” out of those not covered by the law.