Hate Crimes Against Gays On The Rise

[Cannikin]

(Tallahassee, Florida) Hate crimes reported in Florida dropped except for those perpetrated against gays and lesbians during 2003, according to a report released Monday by Attorney General Charlie Crist.

The report shows that race is decreasingly a motivating factor in hate crimes while sexual orientation and ethnicity account for a higher percentage of such crimes.

There's probably little chance the Republican-dominated Legislature will pass laws in the upcoming year to protect gays, but many cities and counties are doing so, said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

The number of crimes motivated by the victim's ethnicity rose by seven, from 44 in 2002.

Meanwhile, the percentage of hate crimes motivated by a person's sexual orientation reached its highest level - 20 percent. That compares to a low of 2.8 percent in 1996, when only six hate crimes related to sexual orientation were reported.


Continued;
http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/12/122704flaHate.htm

[ClintonTyree]

1. Well of course..................

Bush and his Xian butt buddies have more or less declared war on them. Why shouldn't there be more attacks on the G/B/L community? God is in the White House, and we all know god hates fags. :mad:
Assholes. I hope that one day these same people know what it's like to be singled out for something, like pick-up driving, or country music listening and beat the hell up because of it.

[Deja Q]

2. The Xians already think they're being singled out. What a crock.

Let me know when a bunch of Xians get put into camps or killed because they're xian and I'll listen.

[Not_Giving_Up]

3. Those over zealous

Jeebus lovers feel justified in doing harm to anyone whose sexual tendencies are not the same as their own. They are encouraged to remove homosexuality from the face of the planet.

[KurtNYC]

4. WTF

The report shows that race is decreasingly a motivating factor in hate crimes while sexual orientation and ethnicity account for a higher percentage of such crimes.

Aren't race and ethnicity the same thing?

[Rob H.]

5. Depends, I think

People often use the terms interchangeably, but way back in my college years, my Sociology professor pointed out that the word "race" is an artificial distinction--we're all Homo sapiens regardless of our country of origin, so "ethnicity" is actually more correct. Still, the way the sentence is worded, it's confusing to the point of being worthless and misleading on top of that, but it's hard to tell if it's an intentional mislead or just bad writing.

I could be wrong, though. College was a while ago for me. :)

[Swamp Rat]

6. Your professor is correct

Race is a construct.

[KurtNYC]

7. I agree. I think the literal reading would mean something like

'hate crimes based on which species the victim is are down' but those based on ethnicity are up. Of course, I get it that 'race' is used interchangeably with 'ethnicity' which makes the sentence confusing.

Personally, I think people are way too hung up on imaginary ethnic differences and I hope that as more genomic information comes forward, more people will realize that what we all have in common is 99.997%.

[flvegan]

9. The FBI definition isn't terribly clear, either

You can look up their definitions of "racial bias" and "ethnicity bias" on page 18 of their training manual, here:
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/traingd99.pdf

It would appear that the difference is one is where you're from (ethnicity) and the other is what you look like (race).

[flvegan]

8. Actual numbers here

From Partners Against Hate:

2003
In Florida , there were a total of 231 bias-motivated criminal incidents reported for 2003. Of the incidents, 105 (45.4%) were racial bias motivated; 34 (14.7%) were religious bias motivated; sexual orientation bias accounted for 46 (19.9%); ethnicity/national origin bias was the cause of 46 (19.9%); disability bias was connected with 0; and the remaining 0 incidents were the result of multiple biases.

During 2003, a total of 489 agencies in Florida reported hate crimes.

2002 (to show change from previous year)
In Florida , there were a total of 257 bias-motivated criminal incidents reported for 2002. Of the incidents, 134 (52.1%) were racial bias motivated; 41 (15.9%) were religious bias motivated; sexual orientation bias accounted for 47 (18.2%); ethnicity/national origin bias was the cause of 35 (13.6%); disability bias was connected with 0; and the remaining 0 incidents were the result of multiple biases.

During 2002, a total of 489 agencies in Florida reported hate crimes.

[forksofbuffalo]

10. Oh God...

Here we go again.