Please help fight hate crimes!

Warning - this is probably one of the most overtly political posts I've ever made. That means that I'm bound to be pissing a few people off. If that's the case, feel free to get angry at me, de-friend me, burn me in effigy, whatever floats your boat.

So here's the situation. The Human Rights Campaign (a gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans rights group) is trying to get hate crimes legislation passed. They are not alone in seeing the importance of this legislation. Reportedly, two thirds of Americans support expanding hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity -- but currently federal hate crimes legislation does not include sexual orientation protection. Despite the fact that one in six hate crimes are motivated by the victim's sexual orientation.

The name of the act we're trying to pass is the Matthew Shepard Act. Unfortunately, staffers at the U.S. Senate say that opponents of the Matthew Shepard Act are beating us five to one in terms of emails, calls, and letters. If you have a minute and you're concerned about this too (and if you live in the US), can you click this link on HRC's page to watch a video about hate crimes and contact your Senators?

Me, I've never been physically assaulted due to my sexual orientation, but I do fear that it will happen to me or someone I love someday.