hate-crime-posterDENVER – In the wake of the conviction of Allen Andrade for the murder of Angie Zapata, a transgender woman from Greeley, Colorado, The Denver Post and The Greeley Tribune have penned editorials calling for the addition of sexual orientation to federal hate crime law.

The Zapata slaying is the first time Colorado’s bias-motivated hate-crime law has been used to charge someone in the murder of a transgender person. The 18-year-old was killed July 16 after Andrade discovered she was a transgender individual and beat her to death with a fire-extinguisher. Andrade faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole after being convicted of murder in the first-degree, though prosecutors say they plan to pursue habitual-criminal charges, which could quadruple the sentence.

In calling for the change to federal hate crime law, the Colorado papers have provided timely support to H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, which was introduced by Rep, John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) and passed out of the House April 23. The bill, which would permit greater federal involvement in investigating hate crimes and expand the federal definition of such crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, is expected to face a vote in the full House this week.

“We hope the Weld County jury’s findings in the killing of Angie Zapata inject some urgency into the movement to expand federal hate-crime laws to include offenses based on sexual orientation,” said the Denver Post editorial. “Such legislation was approved Thursday by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee after heated debate and the defeat of more than a dozen hostile amendments. This measure is long overdue, and we hope it continues to move forward in Congress. President Obama has promised to sign such a bill and we hope he gets the chance to do so.”

“We hope this conviction will bring a sense of closure and justice for the family of Angie Zapata, who devotedly attended these proceedings and gave emotional testimony at Andrade’s sentencing hearing,” said the Greeley Tribune editorial. “We also hope this trial will bring attention to efforts to pass a national hate-crime law. Singling out any individual or group for violence because of appearance, race, ethnicity, religious or lifestyle choice is heinous. These criminals must be subjected to the stiffest of punishments.”