Governor Bill Richardson Statement in Support of the Senate's Passage of the Hate Crimes Bill

SANTA FE, NM-- New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson today released a statement in support of the U.S. Senate's passage of a federal hate crimes bill that protects Americans from crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity:

"This bill recognizes that discrimination of any kind is unacceptable and that crimes committed on the basis of hate and ignorance cannot be tolerated. For too long, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Americans have gone without the protections they deserve. Now we must ensure that President Bush does the right thing and signs this bill into law. We must continue to fight until every American is guaranteed the rights he or she deserves.

"I hope that the next step will be to pass ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act). A vote on this important civil rights legislation also is long overdue. Furthermore, I believe that gender identity should be included in the bill; transgender Americans deserve protection from discrimination as well.

"I am proud to have led on this issue in New Mexico. I signed into law New Mexico's first hate crimes legislation, which included acts based on sexual orientation and gender identity. I also expanded my state's anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity and provided state health insurance for all domestic partnerships."