Racial Differences Of Sexual Prejudice And Its Correlation

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

Horrific, unthinkable acts of violence against a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, took his life in 1998. This social problem was thrust into the mainstream media largely by his mother, Judy Shepard. She used her tragedy to create awareness, outrage and support exposing violence based solely on sexual orientation. Her work along with activists that joined her helped create our nation’s first hate crime legislation that included crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. It also made several other important provisions such as tracking hate crimes based on gender identity (transsexuals), funding to investigate and other critical supports. The Matthew Shepard Foundation does significant work on hate prevention programs in communities and continues to work toward tolerance today through its efforts to provide a voice and support for LGBT youth. Although some progress has been made, different forms of violence against gay and transgendered youth remains a troubling condition.

There are usually not many reports made about same-sex violence because many were ashamed or thought their situation would not get heard. These individuals feel like their problems would be determined less serious over heterosexual abuse situations. “Lesbian and Gays are more reluctant to report abuse to legal authorities because they fear that they are showing a lack of solidarity among the gay and lesbian community. Many individuals may think there is a difference between the risk factor among heterosexual couples and same-sex couples, however there is no major difference. Also, according to Seccombe (2015) “The rate of abuse in gay and lesbian relationships is similar to or even higher than that in heterosexual relationships, around 25 to 30 percent” (p.322). As we look at the lesbian and gay community we see that they just want to fit in, so this is another reason their stories become unknown. There are many reason to think only woman get victimized, men are victimized, as well. To add, the individuals who describe themselves in the female role are victimized, based on the gender norms where woman should be unassertive and house labors instead of being in the workforce. So, therefore, there is not a major difference or any difference between the risk factors between the heterosexuals and the lesbian and gay intimate

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.

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.

Homophobia has been an uprising issue since the 80s, and it needs to be stopped before it gets more out of hand. Homophobia has been the motive behind various crimes; in just the US alone. One of the various crimes was the Pulse Club shooting in Orlando.(Attaiah) wrote after an interview with the shooter's father, “Mateenn(shooter) had seen two men kissing and was instantly enraged by what he saw.” The fact that someone's sexual preference is the cause of a mass shooting shows how homophobia is a major problem here in the US. Another issue with homophobia is that it is driving a vast amount of teens to suicide. Suicide rates have increased drastically for members of the LGBTQ community. (WONG) “Suicide rates amongst gay youths are devastating. With suicide becoming a far too common way “out” of unbearable homophobic condition.” Not only suicide in general, but there has been a trend of gay youths killing themselves because it is the only way “out”. Fortunately, a man by the name of Dan Savage is trying to help with that. He has created a project by the name of “It gets better project” which is for gay, lesbian, or Transgenders to have a “safe place”.

Domestic violence is also associated with Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2010). Domestic violence statistics stated by Domestic shelters (2014) notes, “The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV, n.d), two out of every five gay and bisexual men experience abusive partner relationships, comparable to number of heterosexual women who endure domestic violence. The Coalition also found that 50 percent of lesbian women have experienced or will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. In a survey of one year’s time, 44 percent of victims of LBGTQ domestic violence identified as men while 36 percent identified as women (para, 2.).” Moreover, CDC (2014) found that, “45% of lesbian and 61% bisexual women compared to 35% of heterosexual women experienced rape, physical violence, and /or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. As well 26% of gay men and 37% bisexual men-compared to 29% of heterosexual men experience the same (para.1).” Staggering numbers for domestic violence with LGBT people, indicates there is a need for laws to be put in place for

Jody Dobrowski aged 24, was brutally murdered in South London in 2005 by two men who believed him to be homosexual. After such a severe, barbaric, inhumane act of homophobic violence, his own mother could not identify him, and his fingerprints had to be used. The judge described this as ‘homophobic thuggery’. Ian Baynham aged 62.Viciously assaulted by a young girl and boy; he punched him, whilst she repeatedly stamped and kicked him screaming ‘faggot’. His injuries were later fatal and he tragically died in hospital 18 days later. Christopher Schliach, Henry Bright, Jaap Bornkamp, Geoffrey Windsor, Daniel Jenkinson and a shocking many more, are all clear examples of hate crimes being metered out on gay men. Homophobia does kill, and isn’t reducing in frequency.

There is a correlation between culture and crime specifically with sexual minority communities and hate motivated violence. Hate-motivated violence refers to an act of violence that is motivated by bias or prejudice (Grattet, 2009). Reasons for bias crimes occurring include that these criminal offenses tend to occur in communities with high levels of social disorganization, they occur as a defense against neighborhood in-migration of ethnic "others”, and neighborhoods with concentrated disadvantage and residential turnover (Garret, 2009). There are consequences of hate-motivated violence for example, hate crime victims report higher levels of depression, anxiety, anger, and nervousness, and hate motivated physical violence is

The case study that is being analyzed in this article is the death of J.R. Warren from Grant Town, West Virginia. He was a gay, black man with both learning and physical disabilities. His murderers were two white teenagers whose motive for killing Warren was the result of rumored sexual relations between Warren and one of the perpetrators (Moon). This immediately brought out the issues between social groups in that area. These problems specifically involved the perceptions of the murder from the gay community, the black community and the heterosexual white community. The gay community took the position of the crime being motivated by anti-gay sentiments. The black community believed that the crime was race motivated because of the historical

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

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning individuals are almost 3 times more likely than others to experience a mental health condition such as major depression or generalized anxiety disorder (National Alliance on Mental Illness). That is around 55% of LGBTQ people who will develop a mental illness. While some mental illnesses can be genetic, prejudice and stigma have created a higher rate of mental illness in LGBTQ youth because mental illnesses and disorders develop due to prejudice resulting in hate crimes, the stigma of mental health, and the homophobia and transphobia in the United States - all of which that efforts to change are slowly being implemented in schools and homes around the nation. Prejudice and hate crimes such as sexual assault, murder, and torture are not something uncommon for LGBTQ people to experience. For instance, in 2016, 27 transgender people reported to have been murdered, that is more than two people murdered a month (Schmider). However, we can trace it back to much earlier than that.

Along with verbal abuse, LGBTQ youth also experience physical violence in schools across the country everyday. Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s sociologists such as Joyce Hunter thought that much of the physical abuse happening towards the LGBTQ population stemmed from the stigma and fear that came from the AIDS epidemic that was spreading rapidly among the gay community in that time. In a study as recent as 2003, 60% of LGBTQ youth had reported being assaulted physically due to their sexual orientation (Chesir-Taran, 2003) These physical actions towards the gay and lesbian youth has caused many to fear going to school. In fact, many LGBTQ students avoid school in order to escape the physical harassment. This drop in attendance has detrimental effects on the student’s academics (American Educational Research Association).

It is important to mention at this stage that a research study presented by a researcher may not give complete information about the selected topic. There can be certain limitations of methodology and the new researchers may criticise it for being incomplete. As research is a circular process in which ideas can be added and extracted by researchers anytime, the application of the presented ideas by one researcher are tested and verified.