Hate Crimes Based On Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity

Hate crime is a motivated violent act by a group or individual perpetrator towards a specific race, colour or religion (Collins, Pg 93,192). For many years, authority figures and the media have ignored hate crime offences towards individuals who identify under the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) umbrella. Up until the 20th century and prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, LGBTQ persons have been victimized in violent crimes based solely on gender identification and orientation. With a myriad of events, cases and unreported individual incidents the burden of proof towards hate crime on LQBTQ increased. The development of North American law towards LGBTQ citizens has improved throughout the last two decades. However, there

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

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.

The legislative landmark was preceded by the 2009 addition of sexual orientation to hate crimes

Before the passage of the Shepard Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act in October 2009, there was no single federal hate crime statute, and prosecutions were based on a variety of civil rights statutes or other violent crime statutes. The scope of federal jurisdiction under some of these statutes was often unclear. In addition, prior to 1991, there was no official national hate crime data from which to form a picture of the size and shape of racially motivated hate crimes in this country.

There are several laws that have been put in place over the years about hate crimes. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the first federal hate crime statute. This statute made it a crime to use, or threaten to use force willfully interfere with any persons because of race, color, religion, or national origin and because the person is participating in federally protected activity such as public, education, employment, jury service, travel, or the enjoyment of public accommodations, or helping another person do so (justice.gov, 2017). In 1968, another act was signed into law that made it a crime to interfere with housing rights because of someone 's race, color, religion, sex or national origin. (civil rights act

Did you know in 2016 in the district of Columbia LGBT hate crimes increased by 59% almost doubling from what it was in 2015? Hate crimes are not uncommon but they have gotten worse over the last few years. The percent of Gay/Lesbian people in the US is about 3.8% and among this hate crimes are extremely common most taking place in the person's own home.

The emergence of the hate crimes has reached the criminal justice system despite that it was somehow unknown to many in the past. Not many understood what is meant by hate crime but is rather becoming known with the understanding of the offenses related to hate crime becoming a standard issue among the citizens across the divide. Actually the criminal justice system has come up with clear definition of hate crime terming it as any kind of offense that is targeted to individual as brutality or prejudice against the person based on the race or ethnicity or religion, sexual orientation as well as gender identity of such a person (Freilich and Chermak, 2013). It is common to any individual or a group who has been targeted due to a holding a specific characteristic that is not present in a person or group

This final conflict over homosexuality is a little different from the two conflicts based on race and gender. Being an African-American or a woman was never considered a crime. But being a sexually active person with a homosexual orientation was, theoretically, a crime in 13 states until the middle of 2003. Being

Although social issues have gotten better, it seems as if things such as homophobic and transphobic hate crimes are once again on the rise. According to the Uniform Crime Report, 2017 was the most dangerous year to be LGBT in America, with 52 homicides

These two deaths in a 48 hour period join two other reported transgender murders earlier this year.

665). Hate crimes can range from trespassing and harassment to destruction of property to right out violence which carries a punishment for such as act in the criminal justice system. Statistics show that 17.4% of nearly 88,463 hate crimes were targeted toward sexual minorities which is eight times the expected rate for this group population (Hatzenbuehler et al., 2015).

Most people in the United States today are familiar with the idea of hate crimes, and there are. Of course, those who have been subjected to them. Simply put, a hate crime is determined to be, “… a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias.” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2017) These prejudicially-based crimes target victims who belong to, or increasingly, are perceived to belong to, a particular group of people, such a race; a religious affiliation; gender identity; and sexual orientation. While legislation in this area does its best to balance the protection of victimized groups and persons, the law must also consider the rights and protections of the victimizer, as determined by the Fourteenth Amendment.

If you are a black male and show signs of femininity, it is considered a weakness on your part. This could lead to consequences for black transgender people. Based on an estimate analysis count by a news group called Mic, although the numbers may be small, transgender people are attacked and killed at a higher rate compared to the rest of the population. Around 111 transgender people were killed between 2010 and 2016 and at least three in four of them were black transgender

Some states have laws covering individual's sexual orientation and sexual identity, but other states it may only cover one or the other. Currently, as of 2017 72% live in areas that created laws to protect individuals against hate motivated crimes. However, 24% lives in states where no laws exist that protects against sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Another 4% reside in areas where no type of hate law even exists. Ignorance itself is a form of violence. Supporting ignorance can motivate individuals into committing heinous crimes. In today's society we see negativity prospering more and promoting positivity less. Ignorance should never be an excuse to harm someone or be taken