US President Barack Obama is set to sign a landmark legislation passed by the Senate that makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. Senate passed the legislation yesterday amid protest by religious groups,who expressed concern that the law may be used to criminalise conservative speech relating to subjects such as abortion or homosexuality. The measure,long a priority of the late Democratic senator Edward Kennedy,prohibits assaults based on a persons race,colour,religion,national origin,gender,sexual orientation,gender identity,or mental or physical disability. The law now goes to the desk of President Obama,who has pledged to sign the measure. Former President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure. More than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007,or nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade, the CNN quoted Attorney General Eric Holder telling the Senate Judiciary Committee in June. The FBI,Holder added,reported 7,624 hate-crime incidents in 2007,the most current year with complete data,the report said. Holder,who called the measure a milestone in helping protect Americans from the most heinous bias-motivated violence,has asserted that it would be used only to prosecute violent acts based on bias,as opposed to the prosecution of speech based on controversial racial or religious beliefs. US Attorney General Holder said the passage of this legislation will give the Justice Department and state and local law enforcement partners the tools we need to deter and prosecute these acts of violence. Joe Solmonese,president of the Human Rights Campaign,called the measure our nations first major piece of civil rights legislation for lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender people. Too many in our community have been devastated by hate violence, Solmonese said in a statement. We now can begin the important steps to erasing hate in our country. The first African-American president earlier this month told the Human Rights Campaign,the largest gay rights group in the US,that he intended to make significant changes to ensure equal rights for gays and lesbians. Among other things,President Obama has called for the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military,the dont ask,dont tell policy.
