Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals people make up more than ten percent of the population; that means if you are sitting in a classroom of thirty, then more than three of those people are LGBT individuals. However, this overwhelmingly large minority group continues to be one of the least protected by the government as well as most heavily targeted by discrimination and hate crimes. Regardless of the powerful shift in public opinion concerning LGBT individuals during the last twenty years, the laws concerning hate crimes have remained invariable.
A hate crime is an act of aggression against an individual's actual or perceived race, ethnicity, religions, disability, sexual orientation, or gender. Examples
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The other hate crime law in effect is the Hate Crime Sentencing Act, passed in 1994. It states that perpetrators of a hate crime are to be given not less than three offense levels for offenses that the finder of fact at trial determines beyond a reasonable doubt are hate crimes. This law, however is only in effect if someone is attacked on federal property, such as a national park or Indian reservation, while trying to perform a constitutionally protected right, such as vote or attend school. Because of these limitations a gay man from Shreveport who was beaten to death while waiting for a cab outside of a gay bar would not be protected by the hate crime legislation or a certain Matthew Shepard who was attacked while walking down the streets of Laramie, Wyoming.
Hate crimes performed against homosexuals are on the rise as well. The 1996 FBI statistics state that anti-gay hate crimes account for 11.6% of all hate crimes data collected. Though the overall average is down by 1.2% from the year prior the crimes are far more violent and public. There were five more arson reports, ten more reports of crimes committed in commercial buildings, and crimes committed in private residences rose from 267 to 318.
These statistics are terrifying, but what makes it even more horrendous is that they are merely the tip of a colossal iceberg; a vast majority of
In 2009, 6,604 hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI, 48.8% of which were motivated by race, 19.7% by religious prejudice, 18.5%by sexual orientation, 11.8% by ethnicity, and 1.5% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2009). Recently, the FBI released the 2010 statistics that unfortunately reveal a slight increase in the number of hate crime incidents: 6,628 incidents were reported in 2010, 47.3% of which were motivated by race, 20% by religious prejudice, 19.3% by sexual orientation, 12.8% by ethnicity, and .6% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2010). While racially-motivated and disability-motivated crimes appear to have decreased, hate crime motivated by religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity has risen in the last year. Improvements in hate crime laws and punishments are necessary in order for these statistics to decrease.
The phrase “hate crime” is generally referred to as a criminal act against a person, a group, or property because of one’s race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation (Civil Rights- Hate Crimes- Overview). A person who experiences a hate crime may be threatened, harassed,
A 2005 study conducted by National Institute of Justice, found that the Federal Government and all but one state, Wyoming, have laws related to hate crimes. A consistent problem identified by this study is there in no consistency in defining what constitutes a hate crime. (Carrie F. Mulford, Ph.D., & Michael Shively, Ph.D., Hate Crime in America: The Debate Continues, 257, Nat’l Inst Just., (2007). “The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines hate crime—also called bias crime—as “a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.” ld.
Circumstances that constitute hate crimes are people committing crime against certain types of people either due to political differences, social class, ethnicity, or sexuality. People who are against a certain group’s lifestyle act out against them which can be in a physical or verbal way.
Hate Crimes are becoming more and more common in the United States. In a report released February 13, 2001, the FBI said 7,876 hate crimes were reported in the United State in 1999. The latest figures represent an increase over the 7,755 hate crimes reported in 1998, but the difference may not be significant because more agencies were reporting such crimes to the FBI in 1999. The figures are in the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics, an annual publication. Seventeen people were murdered in incidents classified as hate crimes, compared to 13 in 1998. Of the total the 7,876 incidents, racial bias was associated with 54.5 percent of the cases, followed by religious bias at 17.9 percent, sexual bias at 16.7, percent ethnic bias at 10.5 percent and bias against the disabled at .24 percent. Intimidation was the most frequently reported hate crime, accounting for 35.1 percent of the total. Vandalism accounted
Hate crime is a crime that affects people more and leave a biased in peoples mind that cause lots of psychological damage and possible physical depending on the person who is the victim
While hate crime is a fairly new label for a crime, the existence of hate crimes has been present since the early days of the United States. Throughout US history, murders, assaults, and destruction of property has occurred against African Americans, American Indians, Irish immigrants, Asian Americans, Latino’s, gays, the mentally handicapped, and all other groups of minorities. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, there has been an increase in racial based attacks against those of Middle Eastern descent, whether they are Muslim or not. Of all of these, African Americans are subjected to the highest number of hate crimes (Martin 1996), with Muslims, homosexuals, and transgendered people on
In many cities throughout the United States, hate crimes are on the rise. A hate crime is a "traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a 'criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation'" (FBI, 2012). Hate crimes have increased as the national conversation has grown less tolerant. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that hate crimes against Latinos, Muslims, and homosexuals have seemingly increased in recent years. However, whether hate crimes are actually on the rise is something that is debated; the upswing in reported hate crimes may be due to an actual increase in crime rates, but it could also be due to an increase in reporting.
Between 2006 to 2017, as reported by O’Reilly, hate crimes targeting Muslims has increased by an outstanding 91%. The average increase in all forms of hate crimes rose by 41% between 2016-2017 (Farivar, 2017). Hence, inarguable statistics and numbers establish a very high rate of increase in hate crimes, most especially during 2016-2017, coinciding with the campaign and subsequent election of Donald Trump.
A hate crime is an illegal act that is specifically done to a type of group and for this instance, race and gender. The top two races that had the highest rate of victims were between blacks and white. The black race defeated every other race in victims by over 1,000 and having a total of 2,022 victims. Of anti-black or African American bias, 62.7 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders. Second was the white race with a total of 734 casualties from hate crime. It is to no surprise that these two parties have the highest number of victims, because they are the ones who are most populated and have the most minorities within them.
In this Gays and lesbians deserve equal protection against the hate crimes that happen in the world. Aren't we told as young children and also throughout life to treat others as we would want to be treated? So why are some decimated against based on sexual preference? The statistics show the percentages of the hate discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community. The violence that they are pitted against, due to people's discrimination against them, in life. And I will also mention the discrimination that the LGBT community goes through and what they miss out based on sexual preference.
Hate crimes are different from what is considerate a normal crime. Hate crimes aren't generally characterized by the type of criminal act, but the motivations behind them. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, (2015) defines hate crime "as any of various crimes such as an assault or defacement of property when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group based on color, religion, gender, ethnic identification ,or sexual orientation." Anyone can be a victim of a hate crime, a youth or an adult; just like anyone can be a perpetrator. These crimes can be premeditated or a crime of opportunity. Often times, perpetrators of hate crimes act individually, but they can also be members of hate groups who support their actions. Hate crimes are
CNN reports that “Hate crimes spiked 6%, but the number could be higher because many incidents go
Hate Crimes: crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion(Federal officials, 2011). Hate crimes have been around for centuries. A hate crime is considered any malicious crime that is derived from hatred towards a certain group of people. African Americans are still victim to hate crimes, even after the Civil Rights movement. James Byrd Jr. suffered a prime example of a gruesome hate crime in 1998, because of his African American descent. Three white men, allegedly, chained Byrd to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him down a gravel road, leaving his body parts severed and bloody (Marty,1998). Recently, a new group of people has been targeted by the hateful view
Hate crimes are not a new concept for society, because hate crimes have always been around. While the study of hate crimes and the laws that have been passed because of hate crimes is relatively new, hate crimes have always been around. Hate crimes were committed as far back as the 1800’s and even back to The Civil War. Hate crimes are prevalent in society today just like they were in the past; because whether the crimes are aimed towards Muslims, the gay community, or any other minority group; they are fueled by something that every person has come into contact with- prejudice. Prejudice is defined as a preconceived thought or opinion about someone. While prejudice can be positive, in the concept of hate crimes they are negative feelings,