Why we need hate crimes laws

The feds refure to track this. I am glad someone is at least trying. Repeal DADT and DOMA. Pass Mathew Shepherd Act. Those will help prevent this.

Dangerous world for LGBT people
A new report shows that crimes against us are up an astonishing 28 percent Jul 24, 2009
| By: Sharon Stapel |
THE WORLD IS becoming more dangerous for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The 2008 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Hate Violence Report, recently released by the National Coalition of Anti Violence Programs, documented a 28 percent increase in bias-related LGBT murders.

NCAVP member programs, which exist in only 20 of our 50 states, found that LGBT communities across this country are being targeted for violence and murder because of who we are. In areas such as New York, where reports of incidents are down slightly, but severity of violence has increased dramatically, one thing is clear: when violence occurs, it occurs more and more severely. Recent hate violence attacks in New York City and Long Island only serve to underscore this terrifying message.

To end this violence, we’ve got to get to the root of why it is happening. We live in a country where discrimination against LGBT people is legal because the federal government refuses to extend equal rights to LGBT people. This legalized discrimination means that our relationships are not recognized, our families are not accepted, we are not allowed to openly serve in the military, we can lose our jobs because of our sexual orientation or gender identity and we are not a recognized class in the 1968 Civil Rights Act, which protects against hate crimes.

THESE FEDERAL POLICIES justify hatred against LGBT people and create a dynamic where we are “other,” unworthy of equal treatment. It is no wonder, in this environment, that those oppositional voices who would deny LGBT people equal rights are comfortable vocalizing anti-LGBT sentiments. These sentiments, supported by legalized discrimination, translate quickly and brutally into physical attacks against us. And an attack against any one member of the LGBT communities is a message to us all: you are not safe here.

Our movement for equality has become increasingly vocal and visible over the past several decades. The answer to a call for equality cannot be violence. The violence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people suffer every day because of legalized discrimination — from the pervasive epithets and slurs we endure as we walk down the street to the targeted beatings and murders that victimize us — will end only when institutionalized discrimination ends.

State protections are important. New York and New York City, for example, do have hate crime protections for people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. But even these state and city protections do not do enough to stop violence: New York City Anti-Violence Project saw a 67 percent increase in anti-LGBT bias murders in 2008. New Yorkers have witnessed eight reported incidents of probable hate violence in New York City in June alone — Pride month. We need prevention and education measures from the federal government that include hate crime protections but also create a culture in which discrimination against LGBT people is no longer tolerated. We must extend federal recognition and protections while also dedicating the federal resources necessary to end this violence.

ENDING DISCRIMINATION MEANS recognizing our relationships; it means providing protection from employment and immigration discrimination; it means allowing us to be out in all areas of our lives, including in military service.

It means recognizing LGBT victims in all crime victim legislation and funding. It means adequate funding for existing anti-violence programs for LGBT victims. It means assuring that the 30 states for which no LGBT anti-violence program currently exist receive resources to provide services to victims and to work in those states to prevent future violence.

And it means determining as a nation that we cannot — and will not — tolerate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.