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RESOLUTION <br />Encouraging Passage of Legislation to Amend Virginia Law <br />to Enhance Penalties for Hate Crimes Committed on the basis of <br />• Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity <br />WHEREAS, hate crimes committed against gays, lesbians and bisexuals make up the third <br />largest category of hate crimes reported to the FBI; and <br />WHEREAS, Congress held this past July hearings to amend current federal law to include <br />sexual orientation, gender and disability and to expand federal law enforcement jurisdiction <br />through the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, but has not brought the measure up for vote; and <br />WHEREAS, University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard's murder on October 9, 1998 is <br />yet another instance in a long history of hate crimes directed against gays, lesbians and bisexuals; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, only 21 states and the District of Columbia include sexual orientation -based crimes <br />in their hate crimes statutes; and <br />WHEREAS, Virginia has failed to pass legislation to add sexual orientation and gender to <br />Virginia's hate crimes laws; and <br />WHEREAS, the results of a Virginia State Crime Commission study documented fifty-eight <br />anti -gay hate crimes in Virginia during 1997; and <br />• WHEREAS, hate crimes are not simply a problem of far -away towns and cities, but one that is <br />local as well; and <br />WHEREAS, it is a matter of documented public record that Charlottesville resident James Evan <br />Kittredge was kidnapped, brutally beaten and left for dead in the trunk of his car on November 1, <br />1996; and <br />WHEREAS, in the perpetrators own words, this act of violence was motivated by anti -gay <br />hatred; and <br />WHEREAS, the Charlottesville City Council does deplore the acts of violence and inhumanity <br />that lead to Matthew Shepard's death and James Evan Kittredge's beating; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br />CHARLOTTESVILLE, that we do encourage the Legislative Delegation of the City of <br />Charlottesville to support passage of hate crimes legislation in the Virginia General Assembly <br />that includes sexual orientation in the categories of individuals for whom penalties for crimes <br />intentionally directed at them are enhanced. We also encourage the Virginia State Congressional <br />Delegation to support passage of the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act. <br />• Approved by City Council on January 4, 1999 <br />Linda Peacock, Acting Clerk of Council <br />