Crimes provoked by the victim’s gender identity would be considered hate crimes under legislation scheduled for a vote in Rhode Island’s General Assembly.
The House is set to take up the bill Wednesday. Similar legislation was introduced last year but did not pass.
Current state law defines hate crimes as any crime motivated by prejudice involving race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, homelessness or disability. The bill would add gender identity and gender expression to the list.
It also would require the state police to compile statistics on assaults, murders and other crimes motivated by gender identity prejudice. The state police already tracks other hate crimes.
