U.S.A. FBI data finds rise in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ community
September 26, 2024According to FBI data, hate crimes motivated by gender identity and sexual orientation increased from 2022 to 2023, raising concerns among LGBTQ+ advocates about the effects of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation.
“Today's abysmal FBI report highlights that it is still dangerous to be LGBTQ+ in this country,” said Brian K. Bond, CEO of LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG National. “Our LGBTQ+ loved ones need both our compassion and our action to make our communities safe and our laws inclusive, so every LGBTQ+ person can be safe, celebrated, affirmed and loved everywhere in the U.S.”
As ‘ABC News’ writes, while violent crime overall has decreased by about 3% from 2022 to 2023, hate crimes have surged nationwide, as per the FBI’s findings.
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In 2023, sexual orientation and gender identity were the third and fourth most common bias motivations, following race/ethnicity and religion. The FBI identified 2,936 incidents related to biases against sexual orientation and gender identity in 2023, an increase of approximately 8.6% from around 2,700 in 2022.
Sexual orientation, excluding heterosexuality, accounted for 2,389 incidents in 2023, up from about 2,188 in 2022 and around 1,300 in 2021, based on the FBI data report.
The FBI report also indicates a several-year trend of increasing gender identity-based incidents, with 307 offences in 2021, 515 in 2022, and 547 in 2023.
“Every lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer person in this country should be free to live their lives without fear that we’ll be the target of a violent incident purely because of who we are and who we love,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organisations in the nation.
Incidents related to sexual orientation and gender identity constitute a growing proportion of recorded hate crimes, comprising 18.1% and 4.1% respectively in 2023, compared to 15.7% and 3.6% in 2022.
Research indicates that individuals in the LGBTQ+ community experience higher rates of hate crime victimisation compared to those who are not part of the LGBTQ+ community.
In June 2023, the Human Rights Campaign announced a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States due to an increasingly hostile environment and a record-breaking surge of legislation impacting the LGBTQ+ community, which remains in effect.
The American Civil Liberties Union is monitoring 530 anti-LGBTQ+ bills and policies set for the 2024 legislative session in the U.S.A., including restrictions on transgender care, school content limitations, and bans on changes to gender markers, among others. The majority of these bills—343—have been defeated.
“As hate targeting LGBTQ people continues to rise, we remain committed to pushing back on the dangerous narratives and extremist groups that are responsible for these attacks,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement to ABC News. “We must continue to uplift the voices of LGBTQ people and all others impacted by this violence.”
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Anti-Trans Offences Double And Hate Crimes Reach Record High In England And Wales
Record Rise In Homophobic And Transphobic Hate Crimes Across UK
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