New FBI data show a sharp increase in the reported number of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation.
New FBI data show a sharp increase in the reported number of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation.
Today, the FBI released its latest annual statistics on U.S. hate crimes reported in 2008. Overall, “the 2008 numbers are up slightly — 7,783 incidents and 9,691 victims” were reported last year. Reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation had the largest increase — nearly 11 percent. Hate crimes based on religion rose 9 percent and the “largest category, racially-motivated hate crimes, fell less than 1 percent.” A breakdown of the 1,706 victims of sexual-orientation hate crimes:
– 57.5 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-male homosexual bias.
– 27.3 percent were victims because of an anti-homosexual bias.
– 11.6 percent were victims because of an anti-female homosexual bias.
– 2.0 percent were victims because of an anti-heterosexual bias.
– 1.6 percent were victims because of an anti-bisexual bias.
The FBI notes that with the recent passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, it will now “begin the process of adding the collection of hate crimes motivated by gender and gender identity and incorporating them into our annual report.”
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(patiently waiting for the “aren’t all crimes based on hate” rhetoric)
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:52 amWho`d of thunk it, all this hate and violence coming for the anti gay,anti monority American Taliban Xtians on the right(REICH)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:53 amWhy should we be suprised? The angry rhetoric from the Right is inciting all forms of violence. From intolerance to gays to violence towards immigrants. Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs and the other Wing-nuts are feeding a frenzy. It is starting to get ugly out there.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 amIt’s all just a Federal plot to take the guns away from those killing teh gays…
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 amOh, but I’m sure we can all agree that Matthew Shepard was NOT murdered because he was gay. It was a robbery.
/snark
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 amIn my neighborhood recently, some gay neighbors have had their rainbow flags stolen, along with plants poisoned and porch furniture stolen.
Two young men in their early 20’s were caught red-handed, but the police declined to arrest them because the guys claimed to have been “traumatized” by the gay men.
The cops who showed up at the scene are both holy rollers, and started in with all the “moral disapproval” crap, that the gay guys should learn how to live with society’s “rejection” of their “lifestyle” and all that crap.
The rest of us neighbors complained to the police chief, and the matter is currently under police review.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:02 amWhen a spoiled 2-year old doesn’t get what they want, they throw a tantrum.
The right wing lost their shiny new toy and now are throwing that tantrum. What the right wing leadership forgets is that there are people out there who, god knows why, look to them for direction. Any while they’re whining and crying… the whack jobs take their rhetoric for marching orders….
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 amNot too much of a surprise. So long as you still have preachers and politicians calling homosexuality “immoral” and “perverted”, a climate for hate and violence will exist.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 amAnnie@5, My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard Virginia Foxx say that. How she wins re-election is beyond me. The people in her district must be as ignorant and intolerant as she is.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 amAnd then there’s the guy at a Brookstone’s in MA, who was fired for repeatedly expressing his disgust with his co-worker’s sexuality.
He claims he was fired for expressing religious beliefs. I think repeatedly telling your co-worker that he/she is committing a sin and will burn in hell and should repent created a hostile work environment.
Said guy deserved to get canned for not being able to keep his opinions to himself.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:06 amLet’s not forget, that if we try to stop hate crimes, we’re infringing upon the religious right’s ability to express themselves. They must be able to hate, and kill people in order to practice their religion.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 amThis is exactly why federal hate crime laws were established, to protect victims from the local authorities who victimize them a second time.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:09 amI would like to know the actual number of these hate crimes that go unreported…I suspect the actual numbers, even after the new accounting, would be higher due to the fact some people won’t want to ‘out’ themselves…
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:09 amApparently the Sacraments are:
Baptism
Eucharist
Gay Bloodletting
When I teach a confirmation class again, I’ll have to remember that.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:11 amAnyone know just how many gay people live in America?
PS I wonder if Perez Hilton reported his getting punched as a hate crime?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:16 amReligion is an elective behavior, and a lifestyle choice.
There is no genetic “mandate” to be a holy roller.
They are no longer the majority in this nation, and they are madder than hell about it, hence all the violence and the nastiness.
How many agnostics do you hear about that might be involved in gay-bashing?
It’s always the guys from deeply “religious” families that are committing these crimes.
I continue to be astounded by the utter lack of interest of the churches in health-care reform, especially concerning the access of the less fortunate to our health-care system.
i continue to be appalled at their utter lack of condemnation of the invasion of Iraq.
The previous Pope and the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury were two of the few prominent religious leaders to speak out against the Iraq invasion.
The American holy rollers rolled around like pigs in the mud, squealing with delight over the invasion of Iraq, and they continue today to promulgate the lies and the rhetoric of the Bush/Cheney regime without apology.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:17 amIs it motivated by anti gay bias?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:18 ammuslim terrorists killing our own troops on our own soil on a sharp increase.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 11:18 amWhat happened?
Mebbe they’re trying to beat back their own feelings of ‘gayness‘? A projection of their own self-rejection…People who are comfortable with their sexuality and not fear based don’t feel the need to attack others…
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:20 amIn a word: BeckWorld.
And all that it represents in a floundering economy. At least for the “bitter” folks on Main Street.
When the economy plunges the working class [and increasingly the middle calss] over into the abyss, scapegoats are recruited.
And never before have the reactionaries had a springboard….a soap box…for this like they have today at Fox News and on talk radio.
Thinks could really, really start to get explosive if Obama Inc. refuses to take the plight of the rest of us seriously. We can only hope the left is up to the task of countering the proto-fascists mentality of the easily molded and manipulated dittoheads.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 amI’m sure all of the families of the Fort Hood Massacre really appreciate your terrorist sympathising, pos.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 11:26 amOh so you were taking one event and claiming it represented many such events? I think those families might not want you using their loss to further a blind agenda….
evangenital I’m pretty sure the Unitarians, Methodists, and Presbyterians were agaomst the war from the start.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 amLet’s look at the number of capital crimes committed by service members as a function of their faith shall we. Let’s of course compensate for the percentage of the services each faith comprises . What trends do you think we will see? I am gonna hypothesize that Christian service people commit a disporpotionate number of the violent crimes committed by service people….
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 amShouldn’t we be concerned with all fanatics?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 amsnorlaxm you’re OFF TOPIC. Try to pay attention.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 amsnorlax@22, Who are you to draw such a conclusion? Just like a troll, they will warp everyting to fit they’re baseless arguments.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:34 amPaging Mr. Bush and Mr. Chaney….
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:34 amMost of those aren’t Muslims Einstein.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:34 amActually, smartlax, anti-hate crime legislation and enforcement is also anti-terrorism since the purpose of a hate crime is to harm one person and create fear in others like the direct victim.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:35 amSTFU you stupid sh#t.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:35 amI think we should stop calling it “anti-hate-crime” legislation and just call it “anti-domestic terrorism” legislation because that is really what it is.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:37 amsnorlax – you truly are an unredeemable moron. Nobody here is “sympathising with terrorists” except in your tiny little lizard brain.
If you want to spew your unreasoning hatred of Muslims, go to RedState – you’ll find an appreciative audience of fellow piss-soaked bigots there.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 amBTW, retard @30, several mosques in Detroit have raised over $45,000 for the families at Fort Hood (source: Time Magazine).
How much have YOU contributed…?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:41 amsnorlax says:
You mean it’s gone up from the 3000+ deaths in 2001? Oh, wait, no it hasn’t.
Are you the same guy who comes up with the graphs proving that when the temperature goes up every year, it proves that it’s getting cooler?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:41 amsnorelax (what, is this generic for Ex-Lax?), do you enjoy living in never never land?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 amWhen I need a break from reality, I’ll be sure to join ya!
VDT strikes again. Coward. Prove my hate crime = terrorism comment wrong, if you can. If you don’t support “anti-domestic terrorism” legislation, then you are a terrorist sympathizer. Prove me wrong, if you can.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 amWas hasan gay or did he go on his rampage because he thought the servicemembers he shot were gay?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:49 amVDT, where are you? Do you really need ten minutes to formulate a counter-argument to my position? Or is formulating one at all simply too hard and you just vote down?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:55 amRight wing extremists are the number one threat to America.
snor, this is a fact and you come here pretending to have the truth but we all know the lie. We have heard it before.
Your hatred of Muslims has as much to do with Hasan’s killings as anything.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 amIt’s kind of amusing how our new friend seems determined to dilute the term “sympathizing with terrorists” to the point where it’s essentially meaningless.
well, maybe “determined” isn’t the right word. Maybe he’s more just flailing about with a really limited vocabulary and capability for abstract thought, and in so doing, destroying the very tools he uses as weapons. So I guess that would be more “clueless”.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pmI suspect that our new friend is only seeking to diminish the social impact of hate crimes by contrasting them with a single tragic event that he feels he can cast in a favorable light to serve his own twisted agenda.
it’s not so much that his example has anything to do with the topic; it’s just that he’s got nothing other than “Hey! Look over here!”
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 pmsnorlax says:
There you go again. Sympathising with terrorists……
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
__________
Yeah? So? I do that all the time. Why is it a bad thing to try and understand the perspective of a group of people with a grudge against out country?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 pmI guess I can ignore this thread – VDT isn’t going to offer me a counter-argument.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pmralph the wonder llama @ 46, I know, I just enjoy pointing it out to the troll with the snoring problem…
ya know, sleep apnea would explain the inability to formulate a coherent stream of thought by our snoring troll…
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pmsnorlax says:
Shouldn’t we be concerned with all fanatics?
No. Just the ones that commit mass murder.
Oh you mean you “teabaggers”? Got it…
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:05 pmIt is very disturbing to me that the Catholic church has gotten in bed with the evangelicals who are extremely intolerant. The Catholic church sees abortion as the most important issue above all else which is a myopic view of society. The church is willing to support politicians who are antiabortion but whose overall views are inconsistent with the church’s views. I will not contribute to a church who claims financial problems while using the contributions for political activities. It is time for more Catholics to tell the bishops to stay out of politics. They should not be allowed to claim separation of church and state only when it suits their purposes. The separation is a two way street.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:08 pmEven though on “gay rights” I’m probably one of the more concervative non-trolls on this list, I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it:
The homosexuals are clearly an easy target for hostility and continue to be the target of hostility. We need to expand hate-crime legislation to cover them.
Fair is fair.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:27 pmsnorlax says:
Yeah? So? I do that all the time. Why is it a bad thing to try and understand the perspective of a group of people with a grudge against out country?
Good luck with your whole “72 virgin” thing, ok? POS.
Understanding where they are coming from and sympathizing with them are two different things. A historian who studies the Middle East and by extension his students in a class that takes on this issue would therefore be terrorist sympathizers in your book. There are those on the left who feel like we need to learn why they hate us. Unfortunately people like you rely on simplistic, mindless explanations such as they hate us for our freedoms that Bush and his cronies used. You have no basis on which to continue your personal attacks on this board. It’s one thing to disagree, but it’s another to attack and to violently twist the intent of your opponents.
Hate crimes against the LGBTQ community are on the rise because there are people who believe it acceptable to dehumanize them and to deny them their equal rights in our society. Yet people like you dismiss those crimes by trying to change the subject because either you feel uncomfortable talking about these issues or even worse some might WANT to blame the victims here for “being gay.” Yes, the Fort Hood massacre is VERY important. No one is denying that, but that does not diminish the seriousness of hate crimes against gay people.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:36 pmand snorlax, using your standards of judging who is a terrorist sympathizer, I would have to unfortunately suggest that you support or sympathize for hate crimes against the LGBTQ community. I know that’s not the case though…even though you are trying to push the problem of hate crimes under the rug. By your standards, you are suggesting we are doing the same, trying to push Fort Hood under the rug and since you accuse us of being terrorist sympathizers, I must accuse you of being a hate crimes sympathizer.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:40 pmThe religious fundamentalists want to claim that the new hate crimes legislations deprives them of their right to freedom of speech. It doesn’t. There are specific provisions in the bill protecting freedom of speech. This is just the new talking point they want to use to justify acting stupid and continuing their campaign to purge our society of anyone they disapprove of.
The purpose of this bill is to protect the rest of us from the religious fundamentalist haters like Robertson, Phyllis Schafly, Palin, Pat Buchanan, etc.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 pm#30 – snorlax says:
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
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Q: Shouldn’t we be concerned with all fanatics?
snorlax’s A: No. Just the ones that commit mass murder.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Good point! Fmr. Pres. Bush should be arrested immediately!
Unless you support mass-murdering American terrorists, Snore-lax!
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:56 pm