Sexual Orientation and Hate Crimes

by Michael A. Jones

Published November 30, 2008 @ 10:34AM PST

It is a moral failure that the United States does not include sexual orientation or gender identity in current federal hate crimes laws.  For more than ten years, Congress has been getting progressively closer to passing the Matthew Shepard Act (more technically known as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act), which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected groups under hate crimes law.  That Congress has failed to push this legislation through, despite both the House and Senate passing it, shows that we've had both a morally bankrupt President these last eight years, and a spineless Congress at many times.

Fact: Hate crimes against LGBT people are going up.  Nearly 16 percent of all reported hate crimes in 2007 were based on sexual orientation.  That is a sharp increase from the previous year.

Fact: Hate crimes against LGBT people are under-reported, because (1) states aren't required to report hate crimes committed against LGBT people, and (2) there's still a stigma attached to being LGBT in many areas of the country that makes many victims reticent to admit that they were a target of LGBT bashing.

Fact: 13 states have no laws that track hate crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.  (An additional 22 states fail to track crimes on gender identity, although they do account for crimes committed on the basis of one's sexual orientation.)

Aren't those statistics appalling?  But here's one more fact, and it's a bit hopeful:

Fact: President-Elect Barack Obama has vowed to make sure Congress passes the Matthew Shepard Act, and when it does, he will sign it into law.

Over at change.org's Ideas page, we have listed "Work with Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Act" as an idea for change for Obama's administration.  If you agree, head on over there and vote. The top ten ideas with the most votes will be delivered to President Obama on Inauguration Day, and a lobbying effort will commence once the 111th Congress takes shape.

Need any more proof that it's time for a national hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity?  Look no further than the front pages of the news.  Last month, two Indiana men - Eric Hendricks and Milton Lindgren - were murdered because of their sexual orientation.  Before their murder, they had reported anti-gay harassment to police, including vandalism and the nailing of an anti-gay slur to their front door.  Neither the murder, or the previous reports of anti-gay harassment, were labeled by Indiana police as hate crimes.

Or look at the murder of a transgender woman, Duanna Johnson, in Memphis. In February of this year, Duanna Johnson was detained by Memphis police and brutally beaten in police custody because of her transgender status.  Officers were eventually disciplined, but that certainly didn't stop the pervasive culture of violence against transgender individuals.  In early November 2008, Duanna Johnson was found murdered.

And these are just two recent examples of the widespread violence driven toward members of the LGBT community.  Their stories are crystal clear examples of why this country needs a federal hate crimes law to (1) make sure crimes committed against LGBT people are accurately reported, and (2) to help create a culture that views violence against the LGBT community as a deeply criminal offense.