Kudos to the Philadelphia City Council!
Philadelphia's city council passed a bill Thursday authorizing added penalties for gender identity and sexual orientation hate crimes that aren't covered under state law.
The administration-backed bill won unanimous approval. Mayor Michael Nutter has two weeks to sign it into law.
The move comes after charges were filed against two men and one woman responsible for the heinous and brutal
attack on a Philadelphia gay couple. The attackers were charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, conspiracy and reckless endangerment charges, but they were not charged with a hate crime because Pennsylvania law does not currently include sexual orientation.
The state of Pennsylvania is also considering adding sexual orientation to state hate crime law.