The Senate's gay games: passage of a hate-crimes bill may have been a political ploy to boost the antigay Federal Marriage Amendment.

The U.S. Senate voted 6.5-33 on June 15 to pass a longstanding bill that would expand the federal dentition of hate crimes to include those committed on the basks of sexual orientation. But don't start celebrating just yet, caution some gay rights activists.

In addition to the fact that the bill faces an uncertain future in the U.S. House of Representatives, its passage in the Senate may only be political. "You could argue that it was a big day in pro-gay America," said longtime gay rights activist John Aravosis, cofounder of the Web site DontAmend.com. "Or maybe they're just using this as a cover." The Senate is scheduled to debate and vote on the antigay Federal Marriage Amendment the week of July 12; the battle by majority leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, to get the two-thirds vote necessary to pass the bill could be close. But by passing the hate-crimes bill now, Aravosis and others argue, Republicans and Democrats alike can seem pro-gay shortly before they vote to enshrine antigay discrimination in the U.S. Constitution.

"If that is the effort, it won't work," said Steven Fisher, communications director for the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign. "The American people don't want the Constitution undermined with a discriminatory amendment."

The FMA vote, which would take place two weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Boston, will force pro-gay Democrats to take an official position on same-sex marriage during an election year, which is bound to alienate some constituents no matter how they vote. "The timing of this proves that President Bush is using our families as political pawns," Fisher said.

David Smith, a spokesman for Democratic Massachusetts senator Edward Kennedy, who cosponsored the hate-crimes legislation, said the senator had no continent on a possible connection between the passage of his bill and the timing of the FMA vote. But he did say that "the FMA ks losing by the day." Indeed, some Senate Republicans have conceded that it is very unlikely they will reach the 67 votes needed to pass the amendment, and leaders in the House have shown little commitment to bringing up their own amendment proposal this year.

But even if it is just politics, Aravosis said, "it's just as egregious that these guys would even vote on whether or not we should be treated as second-class citizens."