It’s been 41 years since legislation was passed that made it a federal crime to target individuals because of their race, religion or national origin.

It’s now been a week since the Matthew Shepard Act was signed by President Barack Obama, extending hate-crimes protections to homosexuals and transgender people, as well as individuals with a disability.

Why has this taken so long? Homosexuals and transgendered individuals have constantly been a target of harassment, discrimination and physical harm.

In 2007, the FBI reports nearly 16 percent of reported hate crime victims were targeted because of “a bias against a particular sexual orientation.”

All persons that are the targets of violence because they are “different” in some way from the white, heterosexual male norm in our society deserve protection and to be treated equally.

To be fair, prior to this new legislation, 32 states included sexual orientation in its hate crime laws. However, it took until 1998 for this issue to even gain national attention.

In Oct. 1998, this new act’s namesake, Matthew Shepard, was robbed, beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die.

Shepard, who was targeted because he was openly gay, died from his injuries a few days after he was attacked. Finally, 11 years later, the fight to recognize such vicious acts under the federal umbrella of hate crimes has ended.

Although the new legislation is reason to celebrate for all those in favor of gay rights, it’s not nearly enough.

Labeling attacks based on sexual preference as hate crimes helps, but does not necessarily protect the victims.

It simply increases the punishment for such attacks.

Also, not only has it taken entirely too long for this first historic milestone to be reached, but much more needs to be done to create a society in which equality truly exists.

During his presidential campaign, then Obama made promises to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that applies to the U.S. armed forces. The policy, which bans homosexuals that are openly gay from serving in the military, is outdated and needs to be repealed immediately.

Now Obama has yet to make good on those promises to repeal the policy. He did promise, once again, to do just that in a speech on Oct. 10, but refused to provide a timetable or specifics.

The president is no longer on the campaign trail, and it’s no longer the time for promises; it’s time for action.

Now is the perfect time to act, and keep up the momentum which has been initiated by the Shepard Act.

Across the country, more and more states are accepting gay couples and finally allowing them to marry, or at least form civil unions, within their borders.

In fact, less than a year after passing proposition 8, which made it illegal for gay couples to marry in the state, California just recently joined Rhode Island, New York, and District of Columbia in recognizing gay marriages performed legally in other states.

Whether some people like it or not, the members of the gay community are eventually going to become (at least in the legal sense) equal members of society.

Obama even promised to help bring about this type of change. So, why delay the inevitable?

If he has the good sense and audacity to sign and celebrate the Shepard Act, then the next logical step is for Obama to rid this country of the joke that is don’t ask, don’t tell.

Then maybe, just maybe, the endgame of equality for all will arrive sooner rather than later.