Federal Acts - There are currently, only two federal acts which include "sexual orientation" . The first one is The Hate Crimes Statistics Act (1990). In short, it requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to collect and analyze hate crime statistics collected from state and local law enforcement agencies. However, the state and local authorities are not required to keep statistics on hate crimes. The second act would be The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act, an amendment to the Violent Crimes Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994).

There is currently a new Act in the works right now. It is called The Hate Crimes Prevention Act (1998), and it's purpose is to amend Title 18 U.S.C., Section 245 to include "sexual orientation" as a protected group of violent hate crimes.

The text of The Hate Crimes Prevention Act (1998).

Canada's Department of Justice has some nice information on the United State's hate crime and civil rights laws. Click on the "next" arrow to see more information.

California State Penal Code Section 422.6(a) states, "No person, whether or not acting under color of the law, shall by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, opress, or threaten any other person in the free excercise or enjoyment of any right or priviledge secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States because of the other person's race, color, religion, ancestory, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, or because he or she percieves that the other person has one or more of those characteristics."

California State Penal Code Section 422.6(b) says the same, except it pertains to "knowingly defacing, damaging, or destroying real or personal property of any other person for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with the free excercise or enjoyment of any right...".