Homophobia And Hate Crimes

In 1988 the “American Republican President Ronald Reagan...[Authorized] all four of the court’s major gay rights ruling” (Reuters,2015). This is when America noticed that everyone should be given equal rights regardless of their orientation. Shortly after this proposal gay marriage had become legalized in 12 American states, however, 36 states are still banning gay marriage (Weese,2013).In 2010 American action, President Obama “signed a law allowing gays to serve openly in the U.S military(Reuters,2015).This step occurred in Canada many years ago as well as equality for the all so many smaller actions have been taken to end hate crime. In Canada, Regina Saskatchewan Police Services have created a Report Homophobic Violence, Period (RHVP) training seminar, with hopes to eliminate hate crime towards the LGBTQ community (Hamelin, pg.A.4). This program not only aims to educate the authority system about hate crime towards LGBTQ communities but it also informs the police services of positive stigmas to refer to. Programs similar to the Saskatchewan training seminar should be created so that the severity of hate crime offences towards the LGBTQ are acknowledge. In Canada, “Vancouver reported the highest proportion of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation (26%)” (Dowden, 2012).In 2009“74 per cent of hate crimes …were motivated by sexual orientation, with 63 per cent resulting in injury (Dowden, 2012). In recent hate crime studies a decrease in statistic shows that only “16% of motivated hate crimes…accounted for sexual orientation” (Dowden, 2012). But 65% of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were violent” (Dowden, 2012). This shows that Canada is in fact taking an initiative to end the discrimination against the LGBTQ community but not taking in counter of the severity in which these cases are causing. In addition to hate crime statistics for the

Throughout American history, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community has been persecuted for their differences. LGBT individuals have dealt with various forms of discrimination in their lives, and will inevitably experience even more. From police brutality towards the gay community in the 1960's , to blaming AIDS on homosexual relations in the 80's, to No Promo Homo laws in 2017, gays have been blamed and punished for a number of things in American history. The states of Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah all enforce ‘No Promo Homo’ laws in their sex education

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

Many people from the United States hold the belief that being gay is something that has always been considered to be okay. They believe that it is just a given. Despite people’s current beliefs on the subject, for a very long time, it was something that was widely believed to be taboo. In the past, people were imprisoned due to their sexuality. Regardless, throughout the decades, people have pushed for the widespread acceptance of people who are part of the LGBT community. Today, homophobia still exists in some parts of the United States, but we have come a long way since the early 1900s.

On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is a right protected by the US Constitution in all 50 states. Now that marriage is available to the gay community, there are more and more people coming out to their families and living their lives married with children. With that being said, there are some people are still against the whole idea of same-sex marriage. Which means that even though their marriage is legalized, there will still be hate crimes against same-sex couples.

In 2013, nearly 200 reported cases of sexual orientation-based hate crimes were reported in Canada; of those crimes, 66% involved violence (Watson, 2015). Scott Jones, a young homosexual man was the victim of one of these attacks. The brutal attack rendered him paralyzed. Through the support of family and friends, he was able to collaborate with them to create “Don’t be afraid” in an effort to draw awareness to LBGT violence and help promote acceptance (Jones, 2015). He is able to provide insight through his experiences in the healthcare system such as the roles and collaboration used in his care, as well as being inspirational.

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.

Regrettably, in the US there are a lot more problems than homophobia. One of the ongoing problems in the US (that has been an issue forever) is racism. Yes, racism is still an issue, and now thanks to social media, it continues to be a trending topic. An example is this summer there were riots in Charlottesville that ended with death. (SAYERS) “One person was killed and 19 were hurt when a speeding car slammed into a throng of counter protesters in Charlottesville, where a "Unite the Right" rally of where white nationalists

Imagine you're walking down the street and you’re doing something normal like shopping. All of the sudden you hear a huge bang, a gunshot, from somewhere in front of you and see a woman lying down on the ground bleeding to death while people call 911 and try to save her, she's already dead. People cry and try helping, but the reason that the event that just occurred happened was because she was transgender. Now does that change your perspective? Do you stop crying and leave once you find this out? Most people would.

Currently, in the United States there are 9 million people who are openly a part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community; that is roughly equivalent to the entire population of New Jersey. The LGBT community stands for and places their beliefs in equality, individuality, and pride. Despite their efforts, they are still faced with degrading discrimination and cruel hatred. Today, fourteen percent of all hate crimes are directed towards to LGBT community. (fbi.gov) The number of hate crimes towards the community is quickly increasing and evolving into a worldwide problem. One of the most recent and impactful hate crimes was in 2016 when a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was attacked by a gunman. That night, nearly fifty

Each and every day, thousands of members among the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) community are affected by hate crimes, bullying and even homicide. In fact, in just 2015 alone, the number of crimes and homicides reported against these members are staggering. According to The National Coalition of Anti-violence Programs, there were fifteen reported homicides. (Jindasurat & Waters, 2015) That is only the reported number of victims who were confirmed as part of this community. Can you imagine how many are actually affected each year? These people are being targeted because of who they are and how they choose to live their life. They are being targeted because they have stood up for who they are. I couldn’t imagine being targeted

In light of the recent election putting a man with questionable morality in the powerful seat of President, many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community are fearful of the repercussions this will cause. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “867 cases of hateful harassment or intimidation [were reported] in the United States in the 10 days after the November 8 election”, and swastikas adorned people’s cars and homes in angry graffiti, accompanying words such as “white power” and “fag”, “he she” and “die” (Yan). While the American legal system has come a long way in granting the homosexual community their natural rights, the present climate gives many a fear that things will go back to the way they were before, with homosexuals being oppressed and persecuted for simply loving who they love.

LGBT has been national attention since legalizing same sex marriage throughout the country. Hate crimes, according to Collica & Furst (2012) is “motivated by bias leading to the level of evidence.” Unfortunately, the evidence resulting in lives lost, property damage,

Another factor contributing to the breaking of this country is the split between those who accept members of the LGBT community and those who don’t. Different opinions stand on whether two people of the same sex should be given the right to legally marry, “a majority of Americans (62%) support same-sex marriages, while 32% oppose it” (Mitchell). In other words, about one-hundred and three million U.S citizens are opposed to the idea that homosexual members of the LGBT community should be allowed to marry whomever they please. Unfortunately, these opinions against same-sex couples provoke hate crimes such as the one in Los Angeles on Oct. 19, 2017. A homophobic group of guys attacked Sabrina Hooks, a lesbian woman who was

Last but not least, during the summer of 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled gay marriage as legal across the nation. However, despite the influence of an increasingly accepting society when it comes to sexual orientation and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community, there persists to be individuals who are ignorant of gay rights and are overly homophobic. These bigots are radical and extremist to the degree that they wish to invoke fear and suffering into the lives of people, who simply desire to, appreciate and most importantly, are proud of pursuing intimate relationships with their preferred gender(s). Once again, corresponding to the demographic findings of the FBI: