"She loved with everything she had," McClure said at the event, according to the paper. "She was the best; she really was."
Pennsylvania is one of 13 states that have a hate crimes law but do not cover crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
Federal law - the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama - covers sexual orientation and gender identity, but not all crimes can be prosecuted at the federal level.
The Pennsylvania Youth Congress, an LGBTQ+ rights group, has asked the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Pennsylvania to consider federal hate-crimes charges in Likens's case.
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