Obama signs expanded US hate crimes law

US: US President Barack Wednesday condemned crimes meant not to break only bones "but to break spirits" as he celebrated a landmark hate crimes law as a new step forward for US civil rights.

Obama signed an act outlawing offenses motivated by a person's race, gender, identity, color, sexual orientation, or mental of physical disability, ending a years-long crusade by crime victims and relatives.

"Today, we have taken another step forward," Obama said. "This is the culmination of a struggle that has lasted more than a decade." Democrats have long campaigned for such legislation, but Republicans have blocked it, as conservatives warned that the move could unfairly discriminate against priests who speak out against homosexuality based on religious convictions.

The previous Bush administration had also opposed such legislation but it was championed by the late senator Edward Kennedy, who died earlier this year.

Previous hate crimes laws only covered discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin. The legislation just passed by Congress added sexual orientation, identity and disabilities to the list.

"No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hand of the person they love," Obama said in a reception in the East Room of the White House.

Obama drew comparisons between the act and landmark civil rights legislation promoting racial equality signed by ex-president Lyndon Johnson in 1968.

Obama quoted Johnson's remark "through this law the bells of freedom ring out a little louder," before adding: "that is the promise of America, over the sound of hatred, chaos, over the din of grief and anger we can still hear those ideals." Washington, Thursday, AFP