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

This bill would expand hate crime protections by adding "gender" to the list of protected characteristics in Massachusetts law. It directly affects victims targeted due to their gender by ensuring such attacks are classified as hate crimes under existing law. The key mechanism is a simple amendment to Chapter 265, Section 39, inserting "sex" after "national origin" in the legal definition. This change would allow prosecutors to pursue enhanced penalties for crimes motivated by bias against someone's gender.