President Obama issued the following statement last night regarding hate crimes legislation which goes before the Congress today.

“This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance – legislation that will enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association. I also urge the Senate to work with my Administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action.”

It’s not too late to to contact your congressman and urge passage of HR 1913.

Watch the proceedings live on C-Span today.

On Twitter follow the #fighthatenow hashtag.

Maggie Gallagher, President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), defended their anti-gay “Gathering Storm” ad on Hardball today against Joe Solomonese of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

Since “Gathering Storm” debuted online yesterday, HRC has exposed its participants as actors having discovered the audition tapes for the ad…

Frankly I’m not all that surprised that these were actors, and bad actors at that. But they were too pretty. Sorry to go all “judging a book by its cover” on everyone but a lot of these haters are as ugly on the outside as they are in the inside. Fred Phelps anyone?

Visit HRC for a thorough debunking of the Gathering Storm ad.

After a dinner with the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) on Sunday, Senator Charles Schumer (NY) revealed his “evolved” support for marriage equality and a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). As of 2004, Sen. Schumer supported only civil unions.

Sen. Schumer’s office confirmed his support this morning:

“It’s time. Equality is something that has always been a hallmark of America and no group should be deprived of it. New York, which has always been at the forefront on issues of equality, is appropriately poised to take a lead on this issue.”

ESPA Executive Director Alan Van Capelle issued the following statement:

“I want to thank Sen. Schumer for his support of marriage equality and the repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. Like a majority of New Yorkers, Sen. Schumer recognizes that only marriage equality provides same sex couples the status, protections and rights afforded to all other Americans. We look forward to working with him to win marriage equality in New York State and around the country.”

Sen. Schumer speaks below at the HRC Gala dinner earlier this year. While he doesn’t mention DOMA or marriage equality, he does voice support for hate crimes legislation, repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and passing ENDA.