Washington - U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, is taking heat for comments
she made on the floor of the House of Representatives this morning.

During a discussion of a hate-crimes bill that would give gay victims of
violence more federal protection, Foxx referred to the beating of
beating of Matthew Shepard as a hoax.

"I also would like to point out that there was a bill — the hate crimes
bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very
unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we
know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It
wasn't because he was gay."

She added: "This — the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was
named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as
an excuse for passing these bills."

Shepard, 21, a gay college student, was robbed, beaten and left to die
on prairie in Wyoming in 1998. Two men pleaded guilty in his death and
have said that they singled out Shepard because he was gay.

Video of Foxx's comments were posted on the Web site Politico.com and on
Youtube and this afternoon the Human Rights Campaign issued a statement
refuting Foxx's assessments.

"Vile lies, like the one spread by Rep. Foxx today on the floor of the
U.S. House of Representatives about Matthew's brutal hate-fueled murder,
continues to underscore how extreme anti-LGBT opponents have become,"
said Brad Luna, the communications director for the HRC.

A spokesman for Foxx acknowledged that Foxx made the comments, but said
that she based them on news reports that questioned whether the men
killed Shepard because he was gay.

The bill passed by a vote of 249-175.