In a very encouraging bit of news, the Democrats in the House have defeated a Republican initiative to strip hate crimes from the final defense authorization bill being debated, and the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act may finally be on the verge of passage. The Senate version must still go through a conference with the House. But if the act survives the conference it will add sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability to the federal definition of “hate crimes.” The video shows openly gay Rep. Barney Frank, who deserves a lot of credit for his work, as he defends attaching the hate crimes act to the DOD authorization. (via JoeMyGod)