No violent crime should be condoned, including hate crimes, but the notion that homosexuals are subject to attacks and violence at greater numbers than the general population is simply not true. In fact, the greatest rate of violence directed at homosexuals is within the homosexual community itself – between homosexual partners.
The FBI’s most current numbers (2009) indicate that all hate crimes are down (7,783 to 6,604). Hate crimes based on sexual orientation bias dropped from 1,297 to 1,223 (with over 80 percent of these incidents noted as being non-violent). These are the lowest numbers that the FBI reports for any year listed on its website with the reports going back to 1995. Yet the number of law enforcement agencies now reporting hate crimes statistics to the FBI is the highest on record (13,690 to 14,422)
There were 1.3 million violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2009; of those violent crimes 2,600 were placed in a “hate crime” category. That’s about 0.20 percent of all violent crimes were considered “hate crimes.” But what is the percentage of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) that were classified as “anti-homosexual?” – an infinitesimal four-one-thousandth of a percent (0.004 percent).
A U.S. Justice Department study shows an epidemic of violence between homosexuals, otherwise known as Intimate Partner Violence. The annual average is 13,740 male victims of violence by homosexual partners and 16,900 victims by lesbian partners (U.S. Department of Justice, “Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99,”) By contrast; the 1999 statistics for hate crimes based on sexual orientation totaled 1,558 victims. (U.S. Department of Justice Statistics: Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Share the facts.