A Human Rights group in Waterloo is calling for a change in the city code to protect homosexuals in the wake of a recent murder. The Waterloo Human Rights Commission and the Cedar Valley Diversity Appreciation Team held a press conference Monday to call for the addition of a sexual orientation amendment to the Waterloo city code. They say the recent murder of Jason Gage was basically a hate crime. The body of the 29-year-old Gage was found in his Waterloo apartment March 14th. 23-year-old Joseph Lawrence of Cedar Falls is charged with first-degree murder, and accused of striking Gage over the head with a bottle and then stabbing him in the neck with the broken glass. Lawrence’s girlfriend told authorities that Lawrence attacked Gage because Gage made sexual advances toward him.
