Doesn't everybody hate crime?

The Senate voted 65-33 today in favor of the Hate Crimes Amendment to the Defense Authorization bill, which would add sexual orientation, gender and disability to the list of protected classes under the Hate Crimes Act. The amendment would allow the federal government to assist local government in prosecuting hate crimes. While the Republican leadership solidly opposed the bill, eighteen Republicans joined their colleagues across the aisle to create a filibuster-proof margin for the controversial bill.

Hate crime laws are controversial with or without this amendment, but if these laws are to exist, it is difficult to imagine them not including sexual orientation, especially in the still looming shadow cast by Matthew Shephard.

Advocates for the amendment were pleased by the result, although some tempered their exuberance with concerns about still unprotected groups while others urged caution in victory, noting that there are more battles to come.

And right they are. Not to be perceived as being too flamboyantly gay, the Republican Leadership announced today that it will schedule a vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment in mid-July (the AFA says July 15, which is either insider info or a total guess). The GOP knows it won't get the required supermajority to pass, but in the process, they'll put Democrats on the gay marriage record prior to the Democratic National Convention in late July.