Report: Rise In Hate Crimes Against Gays
DETROIT (WWJ) - A new report says hate crimes against homosexual Americans are on the increase. But here in Michigan, the number of incidents is actually declining.
Lisa Gilmore from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs says, nationwide, hate crimes against gays and lesbians are up 13 percent.
"Perhaps more disturbingly, a very clear increase in the reports of the severity of the physical violence used during the hate-motivated incidents," Gilmore told WWJ Newsradio 950.
According to the report, there were 27 hate crime murders in the U.S in 2010.
"These murder also clearly reveal the continuing and devastating impacts of pervasive transphobia and racism in the United States," she said. "As, again, just as in our 2009 report, transgender women and people of color are disproportionately targeted for the most severe forms of hate-motivated violence," Gilmore said.
View the report at this link (.pdf format)
Meantime, here in Michigan, the group Equality Michigan says crimes against gays actually fell more than 25 percent last year. The group says the crimes ranged from verbal assault to murder.
