There already are federal laws in place prohibiting violent crimes based on race, color, national origin and religion.

“There are not many subjects that are more important than the subject of hate crimes,” U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a floor statement. “This bill embodies values of diversity and freedom that our men and women in uniform fight to defend.”

Michigan legislation to protect people from hate crimes based on sexual orientation has not passed in the state Senate, said Michael Craw, assistant professor at James Madison College and expert on gay and lesbian politics.

“Action at the federal level might make it easier … to make a case expanding Michigan hate crime laws to include sexual orientation,” he said.

Some students said the bill is a triumph and an advancement, which would have been inconceivable 20 years ago.

“It’s just another roadblock for people that want to use hate instead of using their other emotions toward people they might not agree with,” said Kate Miller, president of the West Circle and off-campus LBGT group, People Respecting Individuality Diversity and Equality, or PRIDE.

Groups in opposition to the bill worry that it would inhibit free speech.

“(If a pastor) talks out against homosexuality just from a moral standpoint and then someone goes out and kills a homosexual, that pastor is liable,” said Michele Combs, spokeswoman for the Christian Coalition of America. “We don’t think that aspect of the bill is right.”

Simply speaking out usually will not lead to a hate crimes charge, said Daniel Levy, director of law and policy for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

“Unless you commit a crime that’s already been charged on the books, you cannot be charged with a hate crime,” he said. “As a society we need to say that you’re entitled to your opinion, but not entitled to express it in a criminal matter.”

Although it might be symbolic, the bill is a step in the right direction, Craw said.

“This is another step toward treating gay and lesbian people equally with others,” he said.

The bill goes beyond a symbolic meaning, Miller said.

“It goes farther than the symbolism,” she said. “This country is slowly but surely changing into a more accepting one.”

The bill passed in the U.S. Senate last week and now will move to a conference committee in the U.S. House and Senate to work out any differences in the legislation.

“We want the community to stand together as one and say ‘Let’s talk about our differences,’” Levy said.

“Let’s not beat each other up about it.”