Nevada Assembly Passes Transgender Hate Crime Bill

Nevada lawmakers are making a strong statement that crimes motivated by hatred of someone being a transgender person will not be tolerated in the Silver State.

The Assembly passed SB139 by a 30-11 margin Tuesday. The bill already cleared the Senate and now heads to Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The bill adds "gender identity or expression" to the list of motivations deemed to be hate crimes already in statute. Violators would be subject to the penalties for the actual crime committed and additional penalties because of the motivation.

Opponents of the bill say it violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and effectively makes unprotected classes second-class citizens.