LGBTQ people most frequent targets of hate crimes
Miami Herald - 06/30/2016
The Orlando shooting massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub that led to the deaths of 49 victims has led to more national attention about hate crimes targeting the gay community.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke about the attack hours later on Fox News Sunday.
“I think we have to keep our eye on a larger picture here, which is the victims of this crime were from a community that is often marginalized and that, frankly, the LGBT community is more often the victims of hate crimes than any other recognized group,” she said.
A spokesman for Lynch said she was referring to an analysis by the New York Times published days after the Orlando shooting. Using data from the FBI and the U.S. Census, the newspaper compared hate crimes per capita in two years: 2005 and 2014. The newspaper found “L.G.B.T. people are twice as likely to be targeted as African-Americans, and the rate of hate crimes against them has surpassed that of crimes against Jews.”
“We are seeing lots more gay people getting married,” said Jack Levin, a sociologist at Northeastern University and expert on hate crimes. “I think what hate crimes represent is a reaction to that.”
The Orlando shooting massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub that led to the deaths of 49 victims has led to more national attention about hate crimes targeting the gay community.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke about the attack hours later on Fox News Sunday.
“I think we have to keep our eye on a larger picture here, which is the victims of this crime were from a community that is often marginalized and that, frankly, the LGBT community is more often the victims of hate crimes than any other recognized group,” she said.
A spokesman for Lynch said she was referring to an analysis by the New York Times published days after the Orlando shooting. Using data from the FBI and the U.S. Census, the newspaper compared hate crimes per capita in two years: 2005 and 2014. The newspaper found “L.G.B.T. people are twice as likely to be targeted as African-Americans, and the rate of hate crimes against them has surpassed that of crimes against Jews.”
“We are seeing lots more gay people getting married,” said Jack Levin, a sociologist at Northeastern University and expert on hate crimes. “I think what hate crimes represent is a reaction to that.”
