Brooke Migdon
Wed, October 18, 2023
(The Hill) — Anti-LGBTQ hate crimes rose sharply in 2022, jumping more than 19 percent over 2021, according to the FBI’s annual crime report released Monday.
More than 11,600 hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI in 2022, the highest number recorded since the agency began tracking them in 1991. A majority of hate crimes recorded last year targeted Black people, according to the report.
Hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people were up significantly compared to 2021, with 622 reported single-bias anti-LGBTQ hate crimes. Hate crimes motivated by an anti-transgender bias rose more than 35 percent year-over-year, reaching 338 incidents.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ civil rights group, described the increase in hate crimes as “both shocking and heartbreaking, yet sadly, not unexpected.”
Is crime going up in America? Some types are, new FBI data shows
“The constant stream of hostile rhetoric from fringe anti-equality figures, alongside the relentless passage of discriminatory bills, particularly those targeting transgender individuals, in state legislatures, created an environment where it was sadly foreseeable that individuals with violent tendencies might respond to this rhetoric,” Robinson said Monday in a statement.
Robinson, who testified before Congress last year during a first-of-its-kind hearing on surging anti-LGBTQ violence and hate speech, added that Monday’s FBI data “serves as another alarming indicator of the state of emergency our community finds itself in.”
The Human Rights Campaign in June declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ people in the U.S. for the first time in its 40-year history, citing the passage of laws that target the community. More than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and at least 84 became law. Most measures threaten to roll back the rights of transgender young people.
President Biden denounced laws that target LGBTQ people as “hateful” and “dangerous” during a speech on Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign national dinner in Washington.
“Families across the country now face excruciating decisions to move to a different state to protect their child from dangerous anti-LGBTQ laws,” he said.
Biden recognized several LGBTQ people and allies who lost their lives to anti-LGBTQ violence this year, including O’Shae Sibley, who was fatally stabbed while dancing at Brooklyn gas station; Colin Smith, who was killed while defending a friend from anti-LGBTQ harassment; and Laura Ann Carleton, who was shot and killed by a man who made “disparaging remarks” about a rainbow Pride flag displayed outside her clothing store in Lake Arrowhead, Calif.
Biden similarly warned of increasing anti-LGBTQ violence last week in a statement marking the 25th anniversary of the killing of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming who was brutally attacked and later died of his injuries in one of the most notorious anti-gay hate crimes in U.S. history.
“Today, as threats and violence targeting the LGBTQI+ community continue to rise, our work is far from finished,” Biden said in the Oct. 12 statement. “No American should face hate or violence for who they are or who they love.”
Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ+ People Surge, FBI Reports
Christopher Wiggins
THE ADVOCATE
Tue, October 17, 2023
The FBI has found an alarming rise in hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, according to its annual crime report for 2022.
The FBI data reveals a 13.8 percent increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation and a striking 32.9 percent surge in those targeting gender identity compared to the previous year. Specifically, the report documented 1,947 incidents relating to sexual orientation in 2022, up from 1,711 in 2021.
Additionally, incidents concerning gender identity rose to 469 from 353. Within the gender identity category, 338 instances were specifically anti-transgender, and 131 targeted individuals who were gender-nonconforming.
The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, expressed grave concern over these statistics, emphasizing the situation’s urgency.
“The rise in hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community is both shocking and heartbreaking, yet sadly, not unexpected,” Kelley Robinson, HRC's president, said in a statement.
She pointed to a “constant stream of hostile rhetoric from fringe anti-equality figures” and a wave of discriminatory bills, especially those aimed at transgender individuals, contributing to this dangerous climate.
Robinson also shed light on the incompleteness of the data, indicating that numerous cities and states have been reporting either incomplete or no data on anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes. She stressed the need for a comprehensive account of such crimes to counteract this escalating violence effectively.
Related: LGBTQ+ Americans Are in 'State of Emergency,' Declares Human Rights Campaign
The FBI's report also outlined that race- and ethnicity-motivated hate crimes continue to constitute the largest category, accounting for 56 percent of all hate crimes, followed by religion-based hate crimes and those targeting sexual orientation. Notably, more than one in five hate crimes now stems from anti-LGBTQ+ bias.
This alarming data comes against an unprecedented influx in anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation. Over 550 bills have been introduced across 43 states, with more than 80 being passed into law — more than double the number from the previous year, marking a disturbing upward trend. Some of this legislation has been propelled by extremist Republican candidates eyeing the presidency, accompanied by increased anti-transgender rhetoric and violence.
In June, responding to the hazardous legislative environment and rising violence, HRC declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ individuals for the first time in its over 40-year history.
The organization had earlier, in November 2020, released a “Blueprint for Positive Change,” urging the Department of Justice to bolster efforts to ensure local law enforcement agencies report hate crime statistics annually.
Despite some advancements made by the Biden-Harris administration to enhance reporting compliance, HRC says that further action is essential for a more accurate and exhaustive accounting of hate crimes.
Robinson emphasized the need for collective action to combat this trend.
“If we’re going to bring a stop to that violence, we need a full accounting of just how many hate crimes are taking place – and that requires every jurisdiction stepping up,” she said.
Tue, October 17, 2023
The FBI has found an alarming rise in hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, according to its annual crime report for 2022.
The FBI data reveals a 13.8 percent increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation and a striking 32.9 percent surge in those targeting gender identity compared to the previous year. Specifically, the report documented 1,947 incidents relating to sexual orientation in 2022, up from 1,711 in 2021.
Additionally, incidents concerning gender identity rose to 469 from 353. Within the gender identity category, 338 instances were specifically anti-transgender, and 131 targeted individuals who were gender-nonconforming.
The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, expressed grave concern over these statistics, emphasizing the situation’s urgency.
“The rise in hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community is both shocking and heartbreaking, yet sadly, not unexpected,” Kelley Robinson, HRC's president, said in a statement.
She pointed to a “constant stream of hostile rhetoric from fringe anti-equality figures” and a wave of discriminatory bills, especially those aimed at transgender individuals, contributing to this dangerous climate.
Robinson also shed light on the incompleteness of the data, indicating that numerous cities and states have been reporting either incomplete or no data on anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes. She stressed the need for a comprehensive account of such crimes to counteract this escalating violence effectively.
Related: LGBTQ+ Americans Are in 'State of Emergency,' Declares Human Rights Campaign
The FBI's report also outlined that race- and ethnicity-motivated hate crimes continue to constitute the largest category, accounting for 56 percent of all hate crimes, followed by religion-based hate crimes and those targeting sexual orientation. Notably, more than one in five hate crimes now stems from anti-LGBTQ+ bias.
This alarming data comes against an unprecedented influx in anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation. Over 550 bills have been introduced across 43 states, with more than 80 being passed into law — more than double the number from the previous year, marking a disturbing upward trend. Some of this legislation has been propelled by extremist Republican candidates eyeing the presidency, accompanied by increased anti-transgender rhetoric and violence.
In June, responding to the hazardous legislative environment and rising violence, HRC declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ individuals for the first time in its over 40-year history.
The organization had earlier, in November 2020, released a “Blueprint for Positive Change,” urging the Department of Justice to bolster efforts to ensure local law enforcement agencies report hate crime statistics annually.
Despite some advancements made by the Biden-Harris administration to enhance reporting compliance, HRC says that further action is essential for a more accurate and exhaustive accounting of hate crimes.
Robinson emphasized the need for collective action to combat this trend.
“If we’re going to bring a stop to that violence, we need a full accounting of just how many hate crimes are taking place – and that requires every jurisdiction stepping up,” she said.
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