Pa. Legislative Session Ends Without a Hate Crimes Bill

Pennsylvania's state legislative session comes to a close without a vote on the LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes bill.

After the highly publicized Sept. 11 bias crime attack of gay men by a group of 'clean cut' bigots, pundits are enraged that the legislation was given the short shrift.

PGN reported that Rep. Brendan Boyle, who introduced the bill, remains optimistic that the bill will move forward next session and that his brother, Rep. Kevin Boyle, will help press for the measure if he wins his race for a Congressional seat in the Nov. 4 election.

"It is possible for the bill to be added to a special lame-duck session -- which can be convened in between official legislative sessions to address unfinished items in the House -- but there is no guarantee such a session will happen," said Himebaugh. "The farther we move the bar this session, the easier it will make things for us next session. Hopefully there will be a few new faces in the House that will be more open-minded and willing to see this through. And if [Boyle's] not in office next session, I know his brother is equally committed to getting HB 177 passed."

House Bill 177 was gaining momentum after last month's gay-bashing incident in Philly, and passed the House Judiciary Committee last week. Boyle reportedly introduced the legislation and said he worked aggressively to push it to the House floor, to no avail.

"Republican leadership, i.e. Speaker [Sam] Smith, is responsible for putting the bill on the agenda, and he has not done it," said Boyle's legislative assistant Nick Himebaugh.

And Stewart Greenleaf, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, failed to call HB177's Senate counterpart, SB 42, to a vote, effectively killing it.

The legislation could have instituted harsher penalties for crimes that are committed on the basis of someone's sexual orientation, among other protected classes like race, age, religion or creed.

"Our hate-crime law is leaving out women, LGBT people, and people targeted because of their ancestry or mental or physical disability. We must correct this injustice and deter hate crimes, which can have the effect of intimidating an entire segment of the community. Ultimately the public - urban, suburban and rural -- must apply pressure to their state representatives and senators to make this right," Rep. Brian Sims, Philadelphia recently said.

It was reported in September the "clean cut: Kevin Harrigan, Philip Williams and Kathryn Knott "exchanged words" with two gay men -- including the word "faggots" -- before a heated argument developed and Knott hit one of the men in the face. The attackers reportedly punched and kicked the two men in the face, head and chest. They were transported to Hahnemann Hospital for multiple injuries.