Unfinished Lives

Anti-LGBTQ Violence Spikes Beyond 2,000 Incidents in 2013, Says Report

Makeshift shrine at the location of the murder of Mark Carson, 32, shot in the head for being gay, NYC, on May 20, 2013 (AFP photo).

New York, New York – Violence against LGBTQ people soared beyond 2,000 reported incidents in 2013, according the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.  Statistics released in the NCAVP annual report on Thursday showed queer folk living at the intersection of homophobia and other forms of discrimination such as race, gender, and citizenship status are most at risk of being targeted for harm in the United States.

The Advocate reports that the level of violence remains consistent with 2012’s statistics, varying little in either direction–still registering one of the highest numbers of anti-LGBTQ violent crimes since the NCAVP has kept records.  For example, though the number of murders of LGBTQ people fell to 18 reported homicides in 2013 from the all-time high of 25 in 2012, those most likely to die because of their sexual orientation, gender expression, or gender identity were people of color and transgender women.  89 percent of the victims were people of color, and 72 percent were transgender women.  “What emerges clearly in the findings of this year’s report is that many of the people at risk for the most severe hate violence are at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression and discrimination including racism and citizenship status,” said Aaron Eckhardt of the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Region.  “Anti-LGBTQ hate violence can no longer be viewed in isolation from other forms of violence that our community members are experiencing based on their identities.”

Generally speaking, the NCAVP Report shows:

• A substantial increase in the severity of the violence reported against LGBTQ people
• Transgender people, especially transgender women, undocumented people, racial and ethnic minority people, and gay men face the most savage violence
• Transgender women, people of color, and gay men face the greatest risk of hate crime murder
• While danger from bias driven violence is still a public matter for many, occurring in the streets of our cities, other places once thought to be “safe” have begun to show alarming increases in attacks, such as private residences, workplaces, and shelters
• Fewer victims of anti-LGBTQ violence are reporting crimes to the police, and those who do report increased hostility toward them by the very law enforcement organizations pledged to protect them

On this final alarming finding, Christopher Argyros of the Anti-Violence Project of the Los Angeles LGBT Center says, “For some of our most impacted communities, especially transgender people and transgender people of color, the hostility and violence faced at the hands of the police [when they do report crimes] is at an alarming level.”  

These statistics should be read in the context of a severe undercount of bias driven violent crimes against all those living at the intersection of anti-LGBTQ and other minority forms of discrimination.  Every agency and expert charged with reporting the number of hate crimes against the queer community in the United States, including the FBI, acknowledges that the statistics on report are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the actual experiences of violence against LGBTQ people.  For example, the current NCAVP annual report, Hate Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and HIV-Affected Communities in the United States in 2013, recognized as the most comprehensive snapshot of anti-LGBTQ violence in existence, is based on data from no more than 14 anti-violence programs in 13 states across the country and Puerto Rico. States reporting were: Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Minnesota, and Arizona. Reportage is voluntary, with many law enforcement organizations neglecting to report anything, either from bias, apathy, lack of funds to do so, or a combination of these passive aggressive motives.

May 30, 2014 - Posted by unfinishedlives | Anti-LGBT hate crime, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, FBI, GLBTQ, Hate Crime Statistics, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), New York, New York City, transgender persons, transphobia | 2013 NCAVP Report, Anti-LGBT hate crime, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, FBI, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, hate crimes statistics, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), New York, New York City, transgender persons, transphobia