Earlier this month, 37-yearold  Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero died because, according to police, seven teenaged boys in Long Island decided to "go find some Mexicans" to beat up.

Hatred creeps in on little steps, establishing itself like a cancer, a cell at a time. Inch after inch is surrendered until feet are gone, then yards, then more until, finally, the streets run red with blood. Every tolerated incursion becomes a foothold for hatred. Many small incursions had been taken in Germany in the early days of Hitler's despotic rule. These led to Kristallnacht. (The Night of Broken Glass). Seventy years ago, Kristallnacht occurred.

Up until the end of April this year, if you had run into former South African footballer Eudy Simelane, chances are that you would have met a happy woman. At 31, Simelane was still involved with the sport she loved as a coach and referee. She was a lesbian in a country in which homosexuality was not only legal, it is enshrined in the Constitution.

November 20th is the ninth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. This year's commemoration is taking places in various locations around the globe, as well as in Second Life (SLurl). But while past commemorations were marked primarily by lamentations for the departed and calls for trans-inclusive legislation, some activists are using today to register their frustration with leaders of the gay and lesbian movement who supported a workplace discrimination bill that ignores people who are gender-variant. Blawg Review has a two-part carnival on transgender issues. The first part focused on the persistence of discrimination, where Dr. Jillian Todd Weiss explained that Nov. 19 was also the 50th anniversary of a little-known holiday, Equal Opportunity Day: "U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed November 19 as Equal Opportunity Day, saying: "Let every citizen of the United States, whether an employer or employee, farmer or businessman, join in the effort to abolish all artificial discrimination which hinders the right of each American to advance in accordance with his merits as a human being and his capacity for productive work."

Nine years after the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. sparked a national debate, the US Congress has passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. as an amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill. The provides "Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes." Opponent say that what it really does is criminalize condemnation of homosexuality. The President has promised a veto. (.pdf)