The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

The FBI has released 2011's data on hate crimes in the United States. Sexual orientation bias made up just over %20 of reported hate crimes, the second largest percentage, after racial bias. Sexual orientation was the only category for which the rate of hate crimes increased in 2011. The FBI will add Gender identity as a discrete category in 2013, and the refined data will be available in 2014.

Whenever the subject of "hate crimes" laws come up, inevitably the criticism is made that "all crimes are hate crimes" and/or that hate crimes law in some way or another makes thoughts criminal, rather than simply actions. I see this argument made all the time, and there are some big problems with it:

• First off "all crimes are hate crimes" is a blatantly false statement. There are many other kinds of crimes: crimes of desperation: e.g. convenience store robbery goes wrong; crimes of greed: Bernie Madoff didn't "hate" anyone; crimes of selfishness/negligence: e.g. when drunk driver kills family of five it isn't because the driver "hated" them; crimes of passion; crimes of rebellion: e.g. graffiti; crimes of random violence: e.g. shooting sprees, pushing strangers into an oncoming train; and I'm sure there are plenty I'm missing.
• The hate crime designation is designed in part to be used in a situation where the actual crime targets far more than the specific victim. When a Jewish synagog is graffitied with swastikas, or a Muslim mosque is torched, it's isn't the building that's the real victim, or the intended target. Rather the attack is against the entire community of people who identify with what those buildings represent. Even if someone goes to a different synagog or mosque in the area, they are likely to still feel threatened or fearful. To quote U.S. Attorney McQuade: A hate crime is different than a simple assault because it is an attack on not just one individual victim, but an attack on everyone who shares a particular characteristic...
• Likewise when a group of thugs decide to go "smear the queer" and choose to attack a random person walking out of a gay bar, their hate and violence has nothing to do with that individual, but rather their perception of that individual as belonging to a whole category of people (they are often wrong btw). By attacking someone because they think that person is gay, they are violating a whole category of people at once.
• Another important thing to understand about the intent behind "hate crimes" law is that it empowers the state or federal government to intervene in cases where a crime may not be pursued by local authorities because of the demographic the victim belongs to. There are plenty of places in the country where women, racial minorities, religious minorities, gender & sexual minorities, and other demographics are unpopular, and as a result, local police may not exert themselves to protect them.
• Finally, I'm not sure how "hate crimes" law creates thought crimes. As a rule these laws are applied extremely narrowly, and only when intent is unassailable. Witness that when my neighbor shot the hell out of my partner's car and told the police that it was because we were faggots, the state ended up not pursuing hate crimes charges due to him having been intoxicated at the time of his statement. Although people who knew him, not to mention the arresting officers, were convinced he attacked us because of our sexual orientation, the legal bar to prove "hate crime" is deliberately set very high, and there was concern that the case wouldn't clear it.

Oh, and if you're reading this I'm guessing the world hasn't ended. In which case, here are some things you need to know today:

• The web was going crazy all day yesterday over an article about a group of scientists who believe they may have found a (non-genetic) root cause of homosexuality. There are some good questions around both whether the science is being portrayed in an entirely accurate way, as well as with the limited scope/review of the research so far, but it does raise interesting questions.
• There is an excellent editorial and video over at The Advocate on the issue of gay-hatred in the gay men's community.
• Molly Ball at The Atlantic has a fascinating in-depth look and the politics, science, and people behind the marriage equality victories in the 2012 election.
• Mayor Reed of Atlanta GA has joined the city council in coming out in support of marriage equality.
• Be sure to check out this letter from the fabulous mayor of Reykjavik, Iceland to the mayor of Moscow, Russia about Pride in those two cities.
• Uruguay's House, by an incredible 81-6 (with twelve representatives not present), voted in favor of marriage equality in that nation. The bill now advances to the Senate, where support is believed to be equally strong.
• Although the UK looks poised to pass their own same-sex marriage law, the Church of England will be legally forbidden from marrying any same-sex couples.
• From the "saw that coming from a continent away" files, seemingly moments after beginning her Russian tour, Lady Gaga is being accused of violating a St. Petersburg law banning the "promotion of homosexuality to children." And yes, Madonna did it first on this front too.
• Radio station ESPN 980 has suspended two of their on-air hosts after one of the most [trigger warning] horrific anti-trans* rants in recent media history. ESPN national released a strong statement condemning the hosts and moved to distance themselves from the affiliated station.
• LGBT and immigrant rights groups are joining forces to ask the President to suspend immigration or deportation cases involving gay bi-national couples until SCOTUS rules on DOMA.
• In a national first, the state of Oregon has declared December Transgender Youth Awareness Month
• The MP who proposed it, Randall Garrison (NDP) is accusing Conservitives of using procedural maneuvers to stall a bill that would grant legal protections to trans* Canadians.
• Speaking at Princeton University, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia defended his previous comments about homosexuality under the law on the grounds that the Constitution is not a living document and does not change or adapt with society.
• HRC's NOM Exposed has been spreading the word about evidence of a new tactic from the National Organization for Marriage that seeks to use anti-marriage gays in their campaign efforts.
• http://www.hrc.org/nomexposed/entry/exclusive-nom-planning-to-stir-up-division-among-gay-community#.UMgwLpPjmjL
• From The Boston Globe comes an excellent piece on the issue of aging for LGBT seniors (although irritatingly, no trans* specific issues are raised)
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon made a strong statement in support of human rights for LGBT people during the UN's Human Rights Day.
• Have a look at this fabulous article and video about the push in the Philippines to translate widespread social acceptance into concrete legal rights for LGBT people.
• A new report from GLSEN highlights the struggles of LGBT youth in rural areas and small towns.
• Finally, the ever-sexy Anderson Cooper has some slightly eccentric ideas about caring for his denim jeans:

(img src - FBI 2012 Hate Crime Report Press Release)