The 2008 Hate Violence Report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects shows violence against LGBT people increased 2% from 2007 to 2008, continuing the trend of a 24% total increase in 2007. Bias-related murders were at their highest rate since 1999, with 29 known anti-LGBT murders committed in 2008. In the Midwest, reports of violence spiked more dramatically with a 64% increase in Milwaukee, 48% increase in Minnesota, and 42% in Chicago. According to the International Transgender Day of Remembrance website, there have been 12 people murdered out of anti-transgender bias during 2009 in the U.S. alone. As murders of transgender people are often underreported, and the identity of transgender murder victims is often misreported, there is no way to know accurate numbers.
According to an estimate by the Human Rights Campaign, transgender Americans face a one-in-12 chance of being murdered. Statistics from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) show that in schools 14.2% of transgender students report being physically assaulted as a result of gender expression, while 30.4% experienced physical harassment.
At this time, 12 states, the District of Columbia and over 100 municipalities offer hate crimes protections that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. As of its signing in October, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act has made it a federal hate crime to assault an individual based on actual or perceived disability, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. This landmark legislation both mandates that the FBI track hate crimes based on anti-transgender bias and allows the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of local hate crimes based on gender identity.
This year the cycle of violence against transgender people claimed the lives of at least twelve people nationally, including:
Crimes committed out of anti-transgender bias also claim the lives of those who do not identify as transgender. Late last December in Indianapolis, 22-year-old Michael Green was found shot to death alongside his partner Taysia Elzy, a transgender woman, because of his relationship with Taysia. Two men who were well-known drag performers in their communities, in North Carolina and New Orleans respectively, were also killed this year for their gender nonconformity.
For more stories of people who have lost their lives to anti-transgender hate violence, visit the Transgender Day of Remembrance website.
©2010 Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation