Lawmakers Target Anti-Gay Violence

(AP)  Comparing hate crimes to terrorist acts, senators called Thursday for laws that would expand federal penalties for acts of violence against homosexuals.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., would add protections based on sexual orientation, disability and gender to existing laws that target violence based on race and religion.

Supporters pushed anew for passage of the bill as Republicans grapple with political relationships with gay groups in the wake of recent comments by Sen. Rick Santorum, chairman of the Senate GOP Conference, who compared sodomy to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery during an interview with The Associated Press.

"We need to add the category of sexual orientation because it is so critical that we say to our lesbian brothers and gay brothers and sisters that we care about you, we include you, we want to defend you," said Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. "And we want to say that there is no family value to be served in opposing hate crime legislation."

The bill would also eliminate certain restrictions on federal jurisdiction to investigate hate crimes. It passed the Senate in June 2000 as an amendment to a defense authorization bill, Kennedy said. But the House has consistently refused to pass it.

"The kinds of violence, against classes of people, is against everything that this country stands for," said Kennedy, who has authored the bill for years. "It's a form of terrorism that this country has to free itself from."

Kennedy said 175 law enforcement and religious groups are supporting the bill.

Specter, a former Philadelphia district attorney, said the legislation is necessary because local prosecution, in some cases, is "insufficient."

He was one of the first lawmakers to defend Santorum, his fellow Pennsylvanian, after the controversy erupted last week.

"I've been for this bill a long time before what Sen. Santorum said," Specter said. "So my support for it does not turn on a reaction of what Sen. Santorum said."

"It is a sound policy to support hate crimes legislation," Specter said. "I'm not going to get in the business of amends."