FBI Releases Report Showing LGBTQI+ Hate Crimes Have Drastically Risen

In the United States of America, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have released a report with data showing that hate crimes against LGBTQI+ people drastically rose in 2022-2023.

The report shows that violent crime overall, across all of the US, has actually dropped by 3 per cent.

Overall in the FBI statistics, sexual orientation and gender identity were the third and fourth most prevalent bias behind hate crimes – the first and second were race/ethnicity, then religion.

In 2023, the FBI counted 2,936 incidents related to sexual orientation and gender identity bias.

This number has risen a significant amount – in 2022, FBI showed 2,700 incidents related to the bias against the LGBTQI+ community – which means these incidents have risen roughly 8.6%  in one year.

Incidents related to diverse sexual orientation in 2023 were counted as 2,389 (up from 2,188 in 2022).

But the more drastic rise in hate crime incidents were related to diverse gender identity. FBI reports show hate crimes against transgender and gender-diverse people have risen drastically – from 307 in 2021, to 515 in 2022 to 547 in 2023.

The alignment in timing of this rise in hate crimes and the drastic increase of anti-LGBTQI+ legislation and rhetoric (particularly focussed on transgender and gender-diverse people)  in the last couple of years is no coincidence.

Last year, Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the US. This state of emergency cited this increasingly hostile and harmful environment  toward the LGBTQI+ community amid the record-breaking increase of legislation,

Advocacy groups speak out about FBI data and “abysmal” rise in LGBTQI+ hate crimes

“Today’s abysmal FBI report highlights that it is still dangerous to be LGBTQ+ in this country,” said Brian K. Bond, CEO of PFLAG. “Our LGBTQ+ loved ones need both our compassion and our action to make our communities safe and our laws inclusive, so every LGBTQ+ person can be safe, celebrated, affirmed and loved everywhere in the U.S.”

“Every lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer person in this country should be free to live their lives without fear that we’ll be the target of a violent incident purely because of who we are and who we love,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson.

“As hate targeting LGBTQ people continues to rise, we remain committed to pushing back on the dangerous narratives and extremist groups that are responsible for these attacks,” GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis told ABC News. “We must continue to uplift the voices of LGBTQ people and all others impacted by this violence.”