More than a dozen state lawmakers from both parties joined with Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Wednesday to tout support for a proposed hate crimes bill that the Legislature expects to take up next year.
The bill, which was released earlier this summer by Senate President Pro-Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, would create an enhanced penalty for crimes committed against people based on their race, religion, sexual orientation or identity, along with other distinguishing factors.
Arkansas is one of only three states without any such hate-crimes law in existence, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The other two are Wyoming and South Carolina.
Attempts to pass similar legislation in the past have been thwarted over language that includes protections for LGBTQ people.
Several lawmakers on Wednesday pointed to the murder of Brayla Stone, a 17-year-old transgender teen whose body was discovered in Sherwood this June, as an example of need for such protections. "Family, friends and communities have been shattered by these murders," said State Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, who is the only openly gay member of the Legislature.
Hutchinson first announced support for the idea of hate crimes legislation last year. He was joined Wednesday by Rutledge, a fellow Republican, who called the bill “much needed and long overdue.”
Rutledge later told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that she was prepared to speak in-person in favor of the bill during next year’s general legislative session, which begins in January.
The hate crimes bill has already drawn opposition from the Family Council, a conservative, faith-based advocacy group that released a statement Wednesday saying the law would punish "thoughts and beliefs."
EARLIER:
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and state lawmakers on Wednesday were scheduled to present a draft of proposed hate-crimes legislation at 10 a.m.
Streaming video provided by the governor’s office ended shortly after Rutledge began to speak in the Capitol rotunda in Little Rock. A new streaming video wasn’t immediately posted Wednesday morning.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olkq8jxr_AA]
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHOwGm4pZp0]
This story was originally published at 9:45 a.m.