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“Eric Holder Celebrates Gay Pride With Speech At Justice Dept. Before Supreme Court Decisions”
by washingtontimes.com   
June 19th, 2013
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With the Supreme Court preparing to deliver two landmark decisions on same-sex marriage, the Justice Department on Tuesday celebrated gay pride with speeches by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democrat, the first openly gay member of the Senate, and singer-songwriter and lesbian activist Melissa Etheridge.

In what was billed as “A Year of Firsts” by the official website for LGBT employees at the Justice Department, Mr. Holder said the nation has made “great strides in overcoming the obstacles and biases that too often affect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.”

And nowhere was that clearer, he said, than in the work performed by the department’s Civil Rights Division.

“Under the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act — which President Obama signed into law in 2009 — we’ve strengthened our ability to hold accountable those who commit acts of violence that are motivated by someone’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability — and to achieve justice on behalf of all who are victimized simply because of who they are, or who they love,” Mr. Holder said.

“As part of an administration-wide commitment to stopping harassment, bullying and abusive behavior, we have partnered with a variety of agencies, including the Department of Education, to forge new alliances between educators, school administrators and anti-bullying advocates.”

Mr. Holder said the department has called on specialists as well as law enforcement professionals to promote healthy educational environments and to lead by example in creating “an open and welcoming environment.”

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