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Despite strong support from the public and despite affirmative votes by both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, members of a House-Senate conference committee late Thursday reportedly had stripped hate crimes legislation from a Department of Defense authorization bill.

The action constitutes a major setback for passage of a hate crimes bill. But a broad coalition of groups working to end hate violence vowed to continue fighting for the legislation until Congress' expected adjournment later this month. Polls show overwhelming support for hate crimes legislation among the U.S. public.

"The conservative leadership that refused to allow this legislation to become law has sent a message of callous indifference to our country," said NGLTF Executive Director Elizabeth Toledo. "In less than five weeks we will go to the polls to elect a new House and a new Senate. We in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community will have our own message to send come Election Day."

A recent poll conducted by the firm Garin Hart Yang asked voters whether they would be more or less likely to support a candidate who did not support legislation to strengthen the prosecution of violent hate crimes motivated by prejudice against the race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation of the victim. A full 66 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for such a candidate, including 54 percent of Republican respondents. The poll was conducted over a three-day period in late August and has a margin of error of 2.8 percent points.

Today's action occurred despite last month's shooting of seven victims in a bar in Roanoke, Virginia, and killing of one man, Danny Lee Overstreet. And it comes despite Virginia Senator John Warner's pledge to reconsider his position on hate crimes legislation. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Warner was a key member of the House-Senate conference committee.

The committee's decision to oppose hate crimes legislation also flies in the face of strong support from both chambers to pass the legislation. Last summer, the Senate voted 57-42 to add the legislation to the Department of Defense authorization bill. Although the House did not add the amendment to its version of the bill, it voted 232 to 192 for a nonbinding resolution instructing House conferees to leave the legislation intact.

"Not only did the conservative leadership of the House and Senate ignore the will of the public, it ignored the will of a majority of House members and senators," Toledo said. "We look forward to the day when our political leaders have the fortitude to do what’s right for our country."

The proposed hate crimes measure would add actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender and disability to federal hate crimes laws, which currently include race, color, national origin and religion. It would also enable federal law enforcement officials to better enforce hate crimes laws and prosecute hate crimes.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.