History of violence against LGBT people in the United States

The history of violence against LGBT people in the United States is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals (LGBTQI), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of America. Those targeted by such violence are perceived to violate heteronormative rules and contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBTQI may also be targeted.

A hate crime is simply defined as when individuals become victimized because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.[1] Hate crimes against LGBTQI people often occur because the perpetrators are homophobic. Violence targeted at people because of their perceived sexuality can be psychological and physical up to and including murder. These actions may be caused by cultural, religious, or political mores and biases.

Contents

Federal hate crime statistics

In 2004, the FBI reported that 15.6% of hate crimes reported to police were founded on perceived sexual orientation. Sixty-one percent of those attacks were against gay men, 14% against lesbians, 2% against heterosexuals and 1% against bisexuals, while attacks against LGBT people at large made up 20%.[2] Violence based on perceived gender identity was not recorded in the report.

The FBI reported that for 2006, hate crimes against gays increased to 16% from 14% in 2005, as percentage of total documented hate crimes across the U.S.[3] The 2006 annual report, released on November 19, 2007, also said that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the third most common type, behind race and religion.[3]

In 2008, 17.6% of hate crimes were based on the victim's perceived sexual orientation. Of those crimes, 72.23% were violent in nature. 4,704 crimes were committed due to racial bias and 1,617 were committed due to sexual orientation. Of these, only one murder and one forcible rape were committed due to racial bias, whereas five murders and six rapes were committed based on sexual orientation.[4]

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Jay Boyarsky attributed a surge in anti-gay hate crimes, from 3 in 2007 to 14 in 2008, to controversy over Proposition 8. However, the DDA cautioned against reading too much from small statistical samples, pointing out that the vast majority of hate incidents do not get referred to the District Attorney's office.[5]

Violent acts against LGBT persons

1970–1979

1980–1989

1990–1999

2000–2009

On the 29 April 2009, The U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend federal laws to classify as "hate crimes" attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity (as well as mental or physical disability).[33]

2010–present

See also

LGBT portal
Human rights portal

References

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