For Immediate Release

U.S. Mayors Join President Clinton's Call For Federal Hates Crimes Legislation

The recent murder of Matthew Shepard, a promising young student at the University of Wyoming, is a tragic and violent testament to our need as a nation to expand and revise our federal hate crimes legislation to make hate crimes based upon sexual orientation a federal offense.

More importantly, it speaks to our need in our cities to continue our dialogue on diversity and difference, and our challenge to accept this diversity and difference as the foundation of our cities' and nation's strengths, rather than the cause of our liabilities.

The United States Conference of Mayors has long supported granting the protection of hate crime laws to many persecuted populations in our country, including lesbian and gay communities. The Conference of Mayors adopted its first resolution calling for increased vigilance in preventing hate crimes in 1991, citing statistics compiled by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Subsequent hates crimes resolutions were adopted by the Conference in 1992 and 1994--resolutions that strengthened our calls to protect all members of our communities.

The Conference of Mayors joins President Clinton's call for Congress to pass federal hates crimes legislation as soon as possible. This legislation would make federal offenses of crimes based upon an individual's sex, disability or sexual orientation. This would constitute a significant and legitimate expansion of current law, which covers, race, color, religion and national origin.

In a time where our nation has clearly divested itself of old prejudices, when the leadership of our cities and our nation has increasingly reflected the true diversity of our citizens, it is imperative that we come together as a nation to respect and value the lives of each individual and every constituency that comprise our community. Failure to pass federal hates crimes legislation would signify our failure as a nation to accord each of our citizens that respect and value.

For more information contact: Chip Brown, (202) 861-6708

The United States Conference of Mayors

J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director
1620 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone (202) 293-7330, FAX (202) 293-2352

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