An Act to advance hate-crime protections for victims who are targeted due to their gender

This bill amends Massachusetts hate-crime laws to explicitly include gender as a protected characteristic. By adding the word "gender" to the list of protected categories in state statute, the legislation ensures that individuals targeted for bias based on their gender receive the same legal protections as those targeted for race, religion, or other existing categories. The change allows law enforcement and courts to classify certain crimes as hate crimes when the perpetrator's motive involves the victim's gender.