Religious Right Lobbies Against `Hate Crimes' Bill.

Despite aggressive lobbying efforts by Religious Right groups, the U.S. House of Representatives has easily passed a measure in support of expanding federal hate-crime legislation.

In June, the Senate approved S. 622, a defense bill with a provision adding homosexuals to the groups protected by federal hate-crime laws. Because the House version of the measure did not include the language, a House-Senate conference committee is working out the details.

On Sept. 13, the House endorsed a motion by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to instruct the committee to include the expanded protections for gays. The final vote was 232-192.

The Religious Right pulled out all of the stops in trying to block the legislation. Focus on the Family, the Colorado-based group headed by James Dobson, described the bill as a threat to "freedom of thought." Jerry Falwell said the law is "aimed directly at throttling the Biblical view on homosexuality." D. James Kennedy and his Center for Reclaiming America said the measure is "cleverly designed to punish citizens ... for what they believe." Concerned Women for America wrote to every member of Congress to announce its "disgust" for the effort.

In fact, the measure does not interfere with freedom of religion or thought. Rather, it allows federal law enforcement officials to intervene in some cases where people become victims of violent crime because of their sexual orientation.

The Religious Right's efforts to stop passage of the proposal couldn't persuade a majority of the House, but the groups may have had greater success with someone of critical importance. During a Sept. 13 meeting with President Bill Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said he remains committed to removing the hate-crime provision from the legislation.