Before President Barack Obama sparked a firestorm by proposing to eliminate the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays in the military, Democrats in Congress took a much bigger step on behalf of the nation’s homosexuals. The U.S. House of Representatives – with anticipated Senate approval – voted last week to extend hate crime legislation, including homosexuals as a protected group. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., hate crime laws were enacted to ensure A