How Common Are Hate Crimes Against Queer People?

According to the FBI's annual Crime in the Nation report released in October 2023, reported hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have increased across the board in 2022 on a year-over-year basis to a total of 1,947 incidents connected to the victim's sexual orientation and 469 incidents where the offender showed a bias against the gender identity of the victim. As our chart based on data from the FBI Crime Data Explorer shows, the relative increase was especially pronounced regarding crimes relating to transgender bias.

While there were only 88 additional cases of a transgender person reporting a hate crime committed against them in 2022 compared to 2021, the relative increase stood at 35 percent. Hate crime incidents against gay men increased by 13 percent to 1,077, while those against the mixed group containing gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individuals rose by 19 percent. In relative terms, hate crimes against lesbian and bisexual persons increased by one and six percent, respectively.

Since these numbers only cover the incidents where the victim reported the crime to one of the participating law enforcement agencies, the real number of cases is likely significantly higher. Members of the LGBTQ+ community routinely exhibit a lower likelihood of reporting victimization due to a lack of trust in and alleged harassment by law enforcement according to a recent national survey in the U.S. conducted by the ACLU. For example, only 42 percent of transgender individuals surveyed claimed ever to have reported becoming a victim of a hate crime to the police.

Despite large parts of the Western hemisphere having enshrined into law robust protections against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, the United States is probably the most notable exception out of all Western industrialized nations. Although same-sex marriage and homosexuality are legal, there are no federal laws governing issues like discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, gender-affirming care, conversion therapy or housing discrimination, with some states like Idaho or Tennessee lifting protections of certain aspects of LGBTQI+ life as recently as 2024.

Nevertheless, acceptance of equal rights for queer people seems to be at an all-time high according to LGBTQI+ advocacy non-profit GLAAD. In their February 2023 national survey, 84 percent of people not belonging to the queer community said they were in favor of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other non-cisgender and non-heteronormative individuals.