The third time truly is a charm! After not passing in 2002 and then passing the Senate but getting stripped out of a larger spending bill in 2004, the push to condemn hate crimes against GLBTQ 'n' Q Americans has been validated on a Federal level.

But we're not done yet. Before I get into that, though, here are some links to news stories:

Senate attaches hate crimes measure to Iraq spending bill, Guardian Unlimited, September 27, 2007

U.S. Senate Passes Hate Crimes Bill By Huge Margin, But Bush Veto Looms, EdgeBoston, September 27, 2007

Senate Passes Matthew Shepard Act, Queerty, September 27, 2007

The important thing to note is that this is as far as the MSA got in 2004. It then got stripped when the House and Senate were putting together the final war spending bill that would actually get on the President's desk, because they knew he would veto it (and all of the attached essential legislation).

So what do we do now?