
HATE CRIMES
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Hate Crimes Defined
A crime in which the defendant
intentionally selects a victim because of the actual or perceived
race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, gender expression
or identity, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.
Violent crime has been declining
throughout the United States in recent years, yet hate crimes
against LGBT people continue to rise. In 1997, at least 18 lives
were lost as a result of anti-LGBT violence. There were a total of
1,375 reported violent crimes against LGBT individuals. Further the
societal costs of hate crimes, in terms of self-esteem,
productivity, and public expense, are incalculable.
Hate crimes send a message that
certain groups of us are not welcome and unsafe in a particular
community. As a result, studies indicate that hate crimes appear to
have more serious psychological effects on the victims and the
communities they represent than do other crimes. Research indicates
that victims of hate crimes often link their vulnerability to their
personal, cultural, or spiritual identity. The result is that
victims of hate crimes often suffer greater emotional trauma than
other crime victims.
LINKS:
SPLC Essay: The Anti-Gay Movement
Take a Stand Against Hate Crimes
Human Rights
Campaign: Hate Crimes
Hate Crimes Facts and Stats
Gay Hate Crimes:
Faces and Stories
Tribute to Hate Crimes Victims
Hate Crimes and National Coming Out Day
We
Give a Damn: Campaign Against Hate Crimes
We Give a Damn Homepage
Homophobia Song
LGBT Vandalism on Campus
February 2010
The University of
Oregon in Eugene is one of this
country’s most gay-friendly campuses,
but in February 2010 vandals hit their
LGBT office with swastikas. This comes
amid growing controversy over The
Pacifica Forum, a SPLC-labeled white
nationalist “hate group,” holding its
meetings on campus.
The
University
of Oregon in
Eugene is a
pretty
fantastic
place to be
gay; winning
a consistent
five-out-of-five
stars on the
Campus Pride
Campus
Climate
Index
and boasting
a thriving
queer
student
community
and
Queer
Studies
program.
None the
less,
vandals
attacked the
University’s
LGBT office
with black
spray paint,
leaving a
four-foot
square
swastika
emblazoned
on the
carpet and
spray paint
all over the
office’s TV
and computer
monitor.
There was no
sign of
forced
entry.
Vashti, the
LGBT Office
Volunteer
Coordinator,
says that
she never
felt much
homophobia
on campus.
But the
University
has been
under heat
lately
from
students
and
in the media
regarding
The Pacifica
Forum, a
discussion
group, led
by
94-year-old
retired
University
of Oregon
progressor
Orval Etter,
which holds
on-campus
meetings
though it is
not
affiliated
with the
school.
Identified
as a white
nationalist
hate group
by the
Southern
Poverty Law
Center,
the group
says it is
intended to
“generate
intellectual
dialogue
about
controversial
racial
topics.”
“It’s my understanding that during their meetings they have repeatedly addressed the LGBTQ community in a very negative, homophobic sense,” Vashti said. “I know that one of their meetings a couple weeks ago they claimed that homosexuality is a psychological disorder and that all LGBTQ identified folks need to be institutionalized.”
LINKS:
Univ Oregon Gay Lesbian Student Alliance Office Vandalized
Gay Students
Attacked at Vanderbilt
Gay Students Attacked in Chicago Area Campuses
Students Raise Awareness of LGBT Hate Crimes on Campus
Somewhere in America
Every hour
someone commits a hate crime. Every day
at least eight blacks, three whites, three gays, three Jews and
one Latino become hate crime victims. Every week
a cross is burned.
Hate in America is a dreadful, daily constant. The dragging death of a
black man in Jasper, Texas; the crucifixion of a gay man in Laramie,
Wyo.; and post-9.11 hate crimes against hundreds of Arab Americans,
Muslim Americans and Sikhs are not "isolated incidents." They are
eruptions of a nation's intolerance.

Bias is a human condition, and American history is rife with prejudice
against groups and individuals because of their race, religion,
disability, sexual orientation or other differences. The 20th century
saw major progress in outlawing discrimination, and most Americans today
support integrated schools and neighborhoods. But stereotypes and
unequal treatment persist, an atmosphere often exploited by hate groups.
When bias motivates an unlawful act, it is considered a hate crime. Race
and religion inspire most hate crimes, but hate today wears many faces.
Bias incidents (eruptions of hate where no crime is committed) also tear
communities apart — and threaten to escalate into actual crimes.
According to FBI statistics, the greatest growth in hate crimes in
recent years is against Asian Americans and the gay and lesbian
community. Once considered a Southern phenomenon, today most hate crimes
are reported in the North and West.
And these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Law enforcement
officials acknowledge that hate crimes — similar to rape and family
violence crimes — go under-reported, with many victims reluctant to go
to the police, and some police agencies not fully trained in recognizing
or investigating hate crimes.
(From Tolerance Project)
Violence Against LGBT People
February 2006
ANTI-GAY HATE CRIME IN
MASSACHUSETTS
IS ENRAGING REMINDER OF NEED TO PASS LAW
‘When a man walks into a
bar, asks if it’s a gay bar and starts shooting, there couldn’t be any
more glaringly obvious and enraging example that we need uniform hate
crimes law and that Congress is stubbornly failing to act,’ said Human
Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese made the following
statement in the wake of a violent anti-gay hate crime in Massachusetts
Wednesday evening.
“When a man walks into a
bar, asks if it’s a gay bar and starts shooting, there couldn’t be any
more glaringly obvious and enraging example that we need uniform hate
crimes law and that Congress has stubbornly failed to act,” said
Solmonese. “The Senate can change this today. Whether the hate crime
occurs in New Bedford, Massachusetts, or Roanoke, Virginia, local law
enforcement deserve access to the same tools. The Local Law Enforcement
Enhancement Act would do this.

“I am infuriated and
deeply saddened. Our hearts are with the families and friends of those
wounded in this tragic hate crime,” added Solmonese. “This harrowing
crime is a sobering and shocking reminder of the way anti-gay prejudice
manifests to violence and that we need to deal with this as a country.
“We are thankful that the
local authorities are investigating this as a hate crime. We stand by
congressional allies who have been working for years to pass a measure
giving critical tools to police officers and district attorneys working
for justice in the wake of horrifying hate crimes. The Senate should do
what the House has already done and pass the hate crimes law.”
According to reports a man
walked into a lounge in New Bedford, Mass., asking if it was a gay bar.
He then brandished a hatchet, swinging it at victims, and later drew a
gun, opening fire and wounding several people.
In the course of
prosecuting the killers in the anti-gay hate crime in Laramie, Wyo., in
which Matthew Shepard was murdered, local law enforcement was forced to
furlough several officers due to scarcity of resources. The Local Law
Enforcement Enhancement Act, already passed by the House in the fall and
by the Senate in years past, would give grants to local law enforcement
to fully prosecute these crimes. Senate leadership is stalling a vote on
the bill.
(From Human Rights Campaign / Feb. 2, 2006)
Bullying
Hate Mail
Tragic Incidents
Hateful Acts
Hate Crimes
Report
"Matt is no longer with us
today because the men who killed him learned to hate. Somehow and
somewhere they received the message that the lives of gay people are not
as worthy of respect, dignity and honor as the lives of other people."
(Judy Shepard, HRC board
member and mother of Matthew Shepard, slain University of Wyoming
student)
Hate Crimes Affect More
than Just the Individual Attacked. All violent crimes are reprehensible.
But the damage done by hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of
physical injury or dollars and cents. Hate crimes rend the fabric of our
society and fragment communities because they target a whole group and
not just the individual victim. Hate crimes are committed to cause fear
to a whole community. A violent hate crime is intended to “send a
message” that an individual and “their kind” will not be tolerated, many
times leaving the victim and others in their group feeling isolated,
vulnerable and unprotected.
According to 2004 FBI
statistics, hate crimes based on sexual orientation constituted the
third highest category reported and made up 15.5 percent of all reported
hate crimes. Only race-based and religion-based prejudice crimes were
more prevalent than hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
Hate Crimes
Myths and Facts
The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity is dedicated to sending out
the message that it is unacceptable to victimize someone because of that
person’s race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation,
gender, or disability.
In the aftermath of the horrible torture and
murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming on October 6, 1998, a
public discussion on the meaning and value of bias crimes laws occupies
talk shows, newspapers, and dining room tables. Unfortunately, too often
the discussion is based on misinformation; ironically, in some cases the
confusion about bias crimes laws is itself used to promote a hate filled
agenda. A society that is committed to equity and justice must focus
this important bias crimes discussion on fact, not myth.
Myth: All crimes involve hate; hate crimes laws are redundant and
unnecessary.
Fact: The crimes in question are accurately identified as “bias crimes;”
the term “hate crimes” is misleading unless it is used with a clarifying
addition – “hate crimes motivated by bias.” A bias crime is an act that
is motivated by the perpetrator’s bias against the group to which the
victim belongs. Obviously, not all crimes that involve hate are included
in this definition of a bias crime.
Myth: Bias crimes laws violate free speech rights by criminalizing
thoughts and beliefs.
Fact: Bias crimes laws
criminalize the action that is motivated by bias, not the bias isolated
from the action. The United States Supreme Court defined the perimeters
of bias crimes laws in relation to free speech issues in decisions in
1992 (R.A.V. V. City of St. Paul) and 1993 (Wisconsin v. Mitchell).
Myth: A murder is a
murder; a murder committed out of bias is no different from other
murders.
Fact: Not all murders are
treated equally in criminal law. The difference between first degree
murder and second degree murder, for example, is the intent of the
perpetrator. Society has determined in its laws that the intent of the
perpetrator changes the nature of the crime committed and therefore a
different penalty is appropriate. Enhancing the penalty for a crime
involving bias reflects the fact that the harm done by an assault
motivated by bias is more serious than the harm from an assault itself.
Myth: An assault committed
against a Caucasian person is as serious as one committed against an
African-American person; bias crime laws say one is more serious than
the other.
Fact: The crimes are
equally serious if in both cases assault is all that is involved.
However, if the assault is a bias crime, additional harm is done. First,
bias crimes tend to be more violent. Moreover, the harm done to the
victim is deeper. The attack is aimed at the very identity of a person,
wounding the spirit as well as the body. Second, the effect of fear and
intimidation is long lasting. Bias crime victims frequently change their
daily patterns of action and sometimes even their residence out of fear;
the aftermath of the crime thereby often affects the victim
economically. Third, a bias crime intimidates the whole community to
which the victim belongs. Finally, bias crimes drive wedges between
groups of people and thereby have a serious societal impact.
Myth: Bias crimes laws
grant special rights to certain groups.
Fact: Bias crimes laws
identify certain categories such as race, not specific communities of
people such as Native American. The Bias Crime Law in Washington State,
for example, identifies the categories of race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation and physical,
mental or sensory handicap (RCW 9A.36.080). The law does not identify
specific groups within those categories such as African- Americans,
Jewish people, or gays and lesbians. Indeed, bias crime charges have
been filed in cases where the victim was white. Bias crimes laws
increase the penalty not because of the race etc. of the victim, but
because of the bias of the perpetrator. Hence, if a straight man is
attacked because the
perpetrator perceives him to be gay, the bias crime law may apply.
Myth: Bias crime laws are
promoted to further the agenda of certain groups.
Fact: The laws protect
everyone within the defined categories: white as well as black,
Christian as well as Jew, straight as well as gay. The “special rights”
and “gay agenda” attacks of the extreme religious right are dishonest
attempts to utilize misinformation and confusion to further their own
homophobic agenda. Would a bias crimes law in Wyoming have stopped the
perpetrators from killing Matthew Shepard? Probably not. But neither do
laws criminalizing robbery stop all robbers. We need inclusive bias
crimes laws that are clearly understood and resolutely enforced. Such
action sends a loud message that it is unacceptable to victimize someone
because of that person’s race, religion, color, national origin, sexual
orientation, gender, or disability. Bias crime law convictions bring
justice which helps the healing process for the survivors of the crime,
including the community to which the victim belonged. The confusion and
misinformation about bias crimes must be cleared up so that we can focus
on the real problem, namely, the prejudice and bigotry that gives rise
to bias crimes.
(From Northwest
Coalition for Human Dignity)
Hate Crimes Resources
The Trevor Project
Advocates for Youth
Youth Resource: Amplify Your
Voice
National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual & Transgender Youth
National Youth Advocacy
Coalition
Alabama Safe Schools Coalition
Gay/Lesbian/Straight Education
Network (GLSEN)
Parents, Families and
Friends of
Lesbians & Gays
Resources for LGBT Youth
SPLC: LGBT Related Legal Rights for Students
I Am Equal
Matthew's
Story
PBS Frontline:
Billy Jack
Gaither
Remembering
Lawrence King
Lawrence King:
NY Times Report
Lawrence King Murder:
Wikipedia Report
Hate Crimes
GLAAD: Violence
And Bullies
Stop Hate Crimes
Sexual Orientation
Hate Crimes &
Discrimination
HRC Report:
Chronology of
Hate Crimes
1998-2002
HRC Report:
Decade of
Violence
Hate Crimes
Archive
News Desk:
Beating Not
Considered a
Hate Crime
All Things Queer:
Youth Statistics
Understanding Anti-Gay
Violence and
Harassment in Schools
Hate Crimes
Statistics
A hate crime is any crime which is
targeted at an individual due to prejudice or hatred towards the
individual’s disability, religion or belief, language, race or
ethnicity, transgender identity, or sexual orientation. A hate crime can
be committed against an individual, an institution, a business or even
society. It’s committed to harm, intimidate or terrify the targeted
individual as well as the individual’s group. In hate crimes, the
victims have done nothing to warrant such acts of crime, except for the
fact that they are who they are. To learn more about hate crimes, let’s
look at a few examples.
One of the most well-documented hate
crimes is the Holocaust. After the Nazis ruled Germany in 1933, they
began to feed the nation with the propaganda that the Germans were the
superior race and inferior Jews were a threat to their supremacy. Other
groups that were targeted were the Poles, Gypsies, Russians, Communists,
homosexuals, the disabled, Jehovah Witnesses, and Socialists. At that
time, there were some 9 million Jews living in Europe. Under the “Final
Solution,” the Nazis murdered approximately 6 million Jews of Europe by
1945. Millions of other people were also murdered during the Nazi’s
reign of terror, based on nothing more than their race, religion,
nationality, disability or sexual orientation.
Another major hate crime was the murder of
Emmett Till, a 14 year-old boy from Chicago, in 1955. On August 20,
1955, Emmett had traveled to Money, Mississippi, to visit his relatives.
Hanging out with his friends on August 24th, Emmett, an
African-American, showed them a picture of his girlfriend, a white girl.
In jest, they challenged him to talk to the white woman who was working
at a store. Coming from Chicago, Emmett didn't know about the gravity of
segregation laws in Mississippi so he took up the challenge and went
into the store to make a pass at the woman, wolf whistling at her as he
departed. On August 28Th, Roy Bryant, the woman’s husband and
J. W. Milam, his half-brother, made their way to the house of
Emmett’s relatives and took Emmett away.
Three days later, Emmett’s battered, naked corpse was discovered in the
Tallahatchie River, and both Bryant and Milam were charged with
kidnapping and murdering the boy. On September 23, the all-white jury
declared both of them innocent.
Some other major hate crimes are the
lynching of Leo Frank, rape and murder of Brandon Teena, ethnic
cleansing is parts of Africa, the killings of Charles Moore and Henry
Dee, and the 911 attacks. Now, let’s look at some hate crime statistics.
Hate Crimes by Bias
According to a report released by the FBI
in 2009, there were a total of 6,598 single-bias hate crimes.
--48.5 percent were due to racial
prejudice
--19.7 percent were due to religious
prejudice
--18.5 percent were due to sexual
orientation prejudice
--11.8 percent were due to ethnicity or
national origin prejudice
--1.5 percent were due to disability
prejudice
Types of Hate Crimes against
Persons
In 2009, 4,793 hate crimes were committed
against persons.
--45 percent were intimidation's
--35.4 percent were simple assaults
--19.1 percent were aggravated assault
--The rest of the crimes were 8 murders
and 9 forcible rapes
Types of Hate Crimes against
Property
In the same year, 2,970 hate crimes were
committed against property.
--83 percent were classified as acts of
vandalism, destruction, and damage
--The rest of the crimes were burglary,
arson, larceny-theft, robbery, motor vehicle theft, and others
Race of Offenders
There were 6,225 known offenders.
--62.4 percent were white
--18.5 percent were black
--7.3 percent were groups of multiple
races
--1 percent were Native Americans or
Native Alaskans
--0.7 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander
--The race of the remaining offenders was
unknown
Location of Hate Crimes
--31.3 percent took place in or near homes
--17.2 percent occurred on alleys,
highways, streets or roads
--11.4 percent took place in schools
--6.1 percent happened in garages or
parking lots
--4.3 percent occurred in churches,
temples, and synagogues
--The remaining 29.7 percent took place in
other locations
Everybody should do their part to prevent
hate crime. Here are some resources about hate crimes and more.
LINKS:
FBI & Hate Crimes
Stop Hate Crimes!
The
Violence of Intolerance
Hate
Crimes & LLEHCPA
Hate Crimes Guide (PDF)
Hate Crimes &
the HCPA
What is a Hate Crime?
Stop Hate UK
Hate Crime in Canada (PDF)
Hate Crime Page at RAINN
Center for
Preventing Hate
Anti-Defamation League
Give a Damn Campaign
A Story about Hate Crime
Hate Crime Page at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
Defining the Problem of Hate Crimes
Police Notebook
on Hate Crimes
A Report on Hate Crimes (PDF)
Partners Against Hate
Hate
Crimes in California
Guide to Hate
Crime Laws (PDF)
Hate Crimes
Today (PDF)
Hate Crimes Against the Homeless
Victims of Violence
Safety & Hate Crimes
Public Safety & Hate Crimes
Hate Crimes FAQs
NCPC’s
Page on Hate Crime
Hate Crime at the Safe Zone
More
about Hate Crimes
(From Gracie Lee and her students /
gracie@teachingpupils.com)
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ALGBTICAL
Association for Lesbian
Gay Bisexual & Transgender Issues in Counseling of Alabama