Ted Kennedy Uses Matthew Shepard To Push 'Hate Crimes' Bill

WorldNetDaily.com:

A bill that would provide federal money to train law enforcement officers to identify and criminally prosecute speech and thought offensive to homosexuals has been introduced into the U.S. Senate, matching a House-approved bill that critics fear will be used to crack down on biblical teachings.

The proposal, from Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy and Patrick Leahy, aligns with H.R. 1913, which was approved in the U.S. House yesterday.

It denies protections to classes of citizens such as pastors, Christians, missionaries, veterans and the elderly that would be granted to homosexuals and those with gender issues.

It it named the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act after a Wyoming homosexual who was killed in a horrific robbery and beating in 1998.

It also provides money "to improve the education and training

of local officials to identify, investigate, prosecute and prevent hate crimes."

Kennedy described "hate crimes" as "especially poisonous."

"They are acts of domestic terrorism that target whole communities, not just individuals," he claimed. "This bill will bring greater protection to our citizens and much-needed resources for state and local law enforcement to fight these vicious crimes."

Well, this was bound to happen: use of the Matthew Shepard hoax to expand Hate Crime legislation. Rep. Virginia Foxx recently got into some hot water with liberals for daring to mention that Shepard's homosexuality had nothing to do with his being killed (a point that was confirmed by a ABC News report several ago). And the gay lobby has been exploiting Shepard's death for awhile, practically turning the kid into a martyr, just so the likes of Ted Kennedy can attempt to silence Christians. Amazing.