Hate crimes legislation passes!!!

And a Republican puts her foot in her mouth - talk about two for two

I know you all have heard by now:

HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION PASSED THE HOUSE!!!:

The House this afternoon passed an expanded hate crimes bill that would protect gay victims, and its chief sponsor in the Senate called for prompt final action.

The measure passed 249-175 over the objections of conservatives, the Associated Press reports.

The bill -- named for Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was beaten to death in Wyoming in 1998 -- is a stronger version of a bill that died two years ago under a veto threat from President Bush.

And this story gets more interesting. In an attempt to speak against the bill, several Republicans made asses of themselves, The big booby prize goes to North Carolina Congresswoman Virginia Foxx:

If you didn't vote for this bill -- against this bill and against this rule for anything else, you could vote against it because we are spending additional money. i also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the matthew sheppard bill is named afte a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. it wasn't because he was gay. this -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.

The idea that Matthew Shepard's murder was not an anti-gay crime but a robbery gone wrong is not an old one. The religious right have been batting that lie around ever since ABC's 20/20 featured a report on Shepard's murder a few years ago. For the record, the report only hinted at this idea of the robbery motive, offered no proof, and was highly criticized.

But the most important thing was that it didn't change anything. When ABC's Primetime news program investigated the murder of Medgar Evers, it led to a new trial and the conviction of his murdered, Byron de la Beckwith.

The 20/20 program on Shepard's murder accomplished nothing but bad contributing to factoids by the religious right.

By the way, go here for the truth behind Shepard's murder and yes, he was killed because of his sexual orientation.

Someone should tell Foxx that there is a difference between telling a lie to excite your base and trotting that lie out in the public eye. In the latter case, you usually have to provide proof.

And in other news:

We won't be getting hearing the last from Miss California for a while - It was bound to happen. She will be helping NOM in their anti-gay marriage campaign. Tomorrow, they will unveil a new ad featuring her. Oh boy! Someone please ask her about her junk science citing church.

And I mentioning this last because I want to end this entry with good news:

The state Senate voted Wednesday to move New Hampshire a step closer to becoming the fifth state to allow gay marriage, but made a distinction between religious and civil ceremonies, bringing back an idea the House rejected in March.

The bill, which passed the Senate 13-11, goes to the House, which can agree with the Senate, kill the bill or ask to negotiate something different.

Gov. John Lynch would only see a bill if both chambers agree. Lynch has said marriage is a word that should be reserved for the union of a man and a woman, but he has not specifically said he would veto a gay marriage bill.