NCJ Number
120360
Date Published
1989
Length
40 pages
Annotation
Violence directed against and victimization of gays were widespread in 1988, with 7,248 incidents ranging from harassment to homicide reported to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) by 120 organizations nationwide.
Abstract
Approximately two-thirds of the incidents were verbal harassment. The remainder were physical assaults, threats of violence, vandalism, police abuse, bomb threats, homicide, and arson. The actual extent of anti-gay violence and victimization was presumed to be far greater than shown by the statistics, since lack of systematic data collection and fear of reporting by victims prevent an accurate measurement of the problem's full scope. Seventeen percent of the reported incidents were classified as AIDS-related, indicating that hatred and blame associated with the AIDS epidemic continue. While 1988 saw scattered improvements in the official response to anti-gay violence and other hate crimes, the NGLTF determined that an adequate response is still lacking. In order to combat anti-gay violence, the NGLTF recommends the following: swift enactment of the Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act; passage of State and local legislation to monitor and combat hate violence; passage of laws protecting gay and lesbian people from discrimination; repeal of State laws proscribing gay and lesbian sexual expression; law enforcement training on how to respond to hate violence; adequate services for victims of anti-gay violence; and educational programs to combat homophobia, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of bigotry. An appendix presents data from 11 anti-gay violence surveys. 28 references, 6 tables, 2 figures.