111: Hate crimes based on sexual orientation in 2007
134: Hate crimes based on sexual orientation in 2008
105: Hate crimes based on religion in 2007
120: Hate crimes based on religion in 2008
763: Overall hate crimes in 2007
729: Overall hate crimes in 2008
The Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that the number of hate crimes in Los Angeles County decreased overall, but increased in several categories such as sexual orientation and religion.
Almost two-thirds of the religious-based hate crimes were anti-Jewish.
Sexual orientation hate crimes rose the most last year, with more than 80 percent targeting gay men and at least nine crimes traced to Proposition 8.
One incident highlighted in the report involved a white lesbian couple walking hand-in-hand on the beach in Malibu. The mother of a white tourist family from Arkansas told them, "You are going to burn in hell!" and dumped her water bottle on one of them and punched one in the face.
"The worst part of the story is that hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are the most violent hate crimes of all," said Lorri Jean, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
"Seventy-three percent of all anti-gay and anti-lesbian hate crimes were violent. And the frightening truth is that equal numbers of LGBT people were targeted in public places as in their residences."
Although I am disheartened by this, I am not surprised. Every time we push back hard, aggressive retaliation seems to spike. I'm not sure if that is any different than when other oppressed, marginalized people fought back in our nation's history. It is very sad that it ever has to come to this.
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