Silent all these years or recent surge?
Statistics show increase in hate crimes against sexual orientation
by Alix Bryan
Since 2004, the overall number of hate crimes nationwide has remained level. But hate crimes against sexual orientation jumped 15 percent – more than for any other group. In 2004, a total of 9,514 hate crimes were committed, and 1,482 of those crimes were against sexual orientation. In 2008, the total of hate crimes increased by 169 counts, whereas the crimes against sexual orientation increased by 224 counts.
These aren’t the only trends that can be gleaned from the latest FBI hate crime data. Most victims of sexual orientation hate crime are male and most crimes occur at the residence. The crimes have become more violent in the past two years, with sexual orientation as the motivation for 71 percent of all hate crime murders.
Some say the increase reflects the fact that more agencies are reporting hate crime statistics. Trends are difficult to pinpoint when the list of reporting agencies changes annually. However, an examination of the 912 agencies that reported in both 2004 and 2008 represented an overall bulk of the filing agencies, enough to make sound statistical conclusions.
Five percent increase. Ten percent increase as part of all hate crimes.
Interactive visual of Ranking across the U.S.
Increases and ranking can be established with careful sorting, but it is much harder to determine the source of these trends. Are victims more comfortable coming forward as society becomes more accepting of sexual orientation? Has law enforcement been more educated? Is more crime actually occurring? Perhaps it is all three, as well.
Referendums across the nation since 2004 have opened the doors for public debate on emotional topics such as marriage, homosexuality, and gender roles. Opponents run campaigns that deem same-sex marriage as harmful to society and homosexuality as aberrant. It seems that heightened visibility brings with it heightened risk.
“When leaders use truly hurtful language, whether or not they endorse violence, it seems to give people permission to perpetuate violence,” said Seth Croft, co-chair of the board of directors for the Virginia Anti-Violence Project
“Public visibility is double-edged sword, presumably people become more comfortable with who we are, but also more people get angry and a backlash ensues,” said Darlene Huntress, formerly the public policy director for Equality Maine, one of the co-sponsors of the marriage bill overturned last month by referendum.
Huntress believes, “there is a probably a correlation,” between increased hate crimes against sexual orientation and marriage amendments. Last year South Portland, Maine ranked in the top 20, with sexual orientation accounting for 80 percent of the areas hate crimes. In 2004, they ranked in the 73rd spot, with just two total reported hate crimes.
Out of the closet. Into the fire
The 2004 election year is pivotal on the gay rights movement time-line. Same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts, and thousands of nuptials were exchanged by gay couples in San Francisco during the one month period that Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city officials issued marriage licenses.
Within six months after gay and lesbian couples began legally marrying in Massachusetts, 13 states approved constitutional amendments defining marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution. Of those amendments, 11 were decided by voters.
The steep drop in both hate crimes and victims for the following year indicate the mainstream broadcasting of anti-gay rhetoric does create a backlash. In 2005, there were 80 less reported incidents and 269 less victims. Analyzation of the sample containing only the 912 reporting agencies shows that despite that initial drop, there were a total of 90 more hate crimes against sexual orientation since 2004, and a total of 258 less hate crimes, creating an adjusted five percent increase of sexual orientation hate crimes in the four year period.
Top 6 Areas with Biggest Increase in SO Hate Crime Incidents
In 2008, the five locales reporting the most hate crimes against sexual orientation were New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.
Perhaps reporting improved in New York, which had a total of 97 hate crimes in 2004, but double in 2008, with 258 crimes reported. Los Angeles remained in the second spot for both years. San Francisco moved from a first to fifth ranking, with 26 less sexual orientation hate crimes in 2008.
Metropolitan counties experienced a decline in all hate crimes while cities saw an increase in sexual orientation hate crimes and a decrease overall. Larger cities are considered to be more progressive, and safer for the LGBT community.
More reports can mean more violence, but also mean overall safer location
“Police have been more educated on what to look for and still it depends on geographical location,” said Huntress. “There is a new responsibility in law enforcement to educate and recognize it, whereas they haven’t always been educated to investigate hate crimes,” she also said.
A high ranking indicates discrimination towards sexual orientation, but could also imply that the locale is perhaps safer than one that reports no hate crimes.
Huntress notes that South Portland is a very accepting area.
“South Portland is a lot safer for sexual orientation than, say, Jackson, Mississippi, even if they don’t report any crimes,” Huntress said.
Huntress references the Maine passage of the non-discrimination act in 2005, which protects LGBT people from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, education, credit and public accommodations.
“Before passage of the non-discrimination law you have to make an assumption that they were reluctant to report it,” she said in speculation of increase in incidents.
These crime increases can’t be written off as just better reporting or education, regardless–crimes are still happening. Perhaps bringing to the nation’s attention something that has been occurring silently for far too long. Until this past October, crimes against transgender people were not even counted.
Federal Protection will bring new data to light
Passage of the Matthew Shepard Act will expand the United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. This is the first federal protection of crimes against transgender people and many believe it will have a great impact on reporting.
“It’s always better when it is a federal law, it sends a very strong message and will make a big difference in reporting,” said Huntress.
Autumn Sandeen served in the U.S. Navy for two decades before transitioning as a male-to-female transsexual. She points to The International Transgender Day Of Remembrance as the only prior form of data collection on anti-transgender hate crime. Held on November 20, 2009, 143 international deaths were remembered, 13 of them domestic.
“While the stats are much higher of hate violence towards men perceived to be gay over women who are perceived to be lesbian, the anti-LGBT hate crimes that appear to be the most vicious appear to be the hate crimes against trans women — especially trans women of color. The federal government to this point hasn’t kept any data on crimes committed against transgender people,” said Sandeen.
Men account for 58 percent of sexual orientation hate crime victims in 2008. This disproportionate percentage has remained high since the FBI began reporting hate crimes. Also, while the agencies recorded 981 male victims, there is a broad category labeled merely as “anti-homosexual,” with 466 reported victims that are more likely to be males.
“Despite the backlash, you have to be visible and stand up for your rights,” said Croft.
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NERD BOX: Data for this story was obtained from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. I accessed reports from 2003-2008, Tables 1, 4, and 13. The FBI begs users not to rank from their data, and pinpointing smaller trends is difficult with the annual fluctuation in reporting agencies. While hate crimes against sexual orientation have seemed to increase, it was impossible to say so with complete accuracy using just the FBI excel sheets. I cleaned up the excel sheets for 2004 &2008, sorting out only metropolitan counties and cities. Next I imported those sheets into an Access database and joined the counties and cities, with a resulting list of 912 matches, or 43% of all reporting agencies. Keep in mind that around only 80% of reporting agencies report more than 0, so my list is a bulk of the data. I exported my query back into excel and crunched a variety of numbers: percents, increases, and then a ranking by area, not state.
I found the FBI data to be most jumbled when it came to reporting from colleges and universities. Almost all entry lines have to be changed because of the categorization process. I excluded those from my match list.
The sheets can be accessed by clicking on the below links and contain all inclusive hate crime data: race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability.
Hate Crimes_04 and 08, consolidated, matching agencies. Includes ranking for both years
Hate Crimes 04 and 08, metropolitan counties.
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Alix, nice to hear from you! I checked out your website, and it looks great. It was fun to see what you have been up to with your graduate work.
We just got back from a trip to U of K, where my daughter is working on mice (biomedical engineering for her PhD). I toured her lab, but luckily did not have to see any of the mutilated little guys:(
Best of luck to you with your projects, and wishing you a great holiday!
Lou