He spoke to officials from Celtic and Rangers and set up a working group on the issue which is due to report soon.
In June this year, Scotland changed its law to make religious hatred an aggravated offence. That means judges can impose tougher sentences than usual if they believe a crime was religiously motivated.
"That was a very big step in legislating specifically against religious bigotry," said the Nil By Mouth spokesman.
"We're absolutely delighted that Jack McConnell has got behind this personally and we await the recommendations of the working group with interest."
Elinor Kelly, a researcher in race and ethnic issues at Glasgow University, also acknowledges "a growing sense of assurance" in the way Scotland is handling the issue.
"But people are still incredibly tentative when in comes to talking about sectarianism up here," she added.
"Generally, people don't want to stick their heads above the parapet."
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