This law has been named the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Act, so named in remembrance of Matthew Shepherd, a gay man who was brutally murdered by straight counterparts for his sexual orientation. The murder took place in 1998 when two men offered Shepherd a ride in their car. They subsequently beat him, robbed, him, tied him to a post in a remote are, and left him. He was found 18 hours later in a coma, taken to a hospital, and died from head related injuries.
More information on Matthew Shepherd can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepherd . More information on violence against LGBT people in general can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_LGBT_people .
This legislation is groundbreaking for the gay rights movement because the idea that LGBT people should protected in terms of hate crimes is still a controversial idea. Other issues of discrimination are even more dynamic in their disagreements. For example, it is not against the law in Utah to fire a worker based on his or her sexual orientation.
I find that to be very interesting because it certainly is illegal in most places to fire someone based on his or her religious practices, and those against making it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation would argue that sexuality is a matter of choice rather than nature. I, personally, feel that religious practices are much more of a choice than sexual orientation.
To listen to the story about President Obama signing the hate crimes legislation, follow the link here: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=114237513&m=114237508
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