TheDailyVoice.com – Nadine Smith
We have to make ending hate violence – no matter the target – a national priority. We have to speak up, at the top of our voices every time. We need a national hate crime law that sends a new and unmistakable message that we as a society will not allow any class of people to be terrorized by hate violence.
Nadine Smith is executive director of Equality Florida.
Two weeks ago, 17 year-old Simmie Williams, Jr. was gunned down on a street corner in Broward County. According to family and friends, the African-American teenager identified as gay and had reportedly reached out to transgender support groups in recent weeks. Police are investigating Simmie’s murder as a possible hate crime based on the words they say were exchanged before the shooting.