Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law is currently in the process of expanding to include sexual orientation due to an attack on a gay couple in Philadelphia last month. 

By a vote of 19-4, the House Judiciary Committee approved House Bill 177 on Oct. 6. The legislation will go to the House for a vote, with only five days left in the session.

"Today's passage of my legislation expanding Pennsylvania's hate crimes definition to include sexual orientation marks a historic turn in our Commonwealth's policies," said Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, who sponsored the bill.

The current law protects people who are harassed or attacked because of gender, religion or ethnicity. The proposed bill will modify the Pennsylvania Crime Code, by adding mental or physical disability, sexual orientation and gender or gender identity to the list of protected hate crimes. The expansion will also add “malicious intention against the actual or perceived ancestry” under the ethnicity coverage, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.