History of violence against LGBTQ people in the United States
Acts of violence which are committed against people because of their perceived sexuality can either be psychological or physical and they can include murder.
101–275) to develop a systematic approach to documenting and understanding hate crimes against LGBTQ people in the United States.
In 2004, the FBI reported that 14% of hate crimes due to perceived sexual orientation were against lesbians, 2% against heterosexuals and 1% against bisexuals.
[10] Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Jay Boyarsky attributed a surge in anti-gay hate crimes, from 3 in 2007 to 14 in 2008, to controversy over Proposition 8.
However, the DDA cautioned against reading too much from small statistical samples, pointing out that the vast majority of hate incidents do not get referred to the District Attorney's office.
The biggest act of violence occurred in Orlando when Omar Mateen attacked the Pulse nightclub in the city killing 49 and wounding 53 others.
By June 2018, the FBI had declined to classify the incident as an anti-gay hate crime, as evidence suggested that Mateen had scouted several different targets before choosing Pulse and that he did not know it was a gay nightclub.
While this act was passed more than 20 years ago, local police officers often have no training on identification of hate crimes based on sexual preference.
There are organizations throughout the United States that have been established to provide care for LGBTQ people, such as the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.
Violent acts, including domestic and sexual abuse, towards the LGBTQ community may lead to depression, PTSD, suicidal behaviors, or trauma.
According to the authors of the research article, "Psychological Sequelae of Hate-Crime Victimization Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults", it takes time to recover from the violence.
[21] During their experiment, they observed that psychological distress increases for people who experienced violence within the previous 2 years.
The author then states how family violence against LGBTQ youth affects them: "Studies show that rejection and family violence in the out-coming process and the non-provision of social support have a direct impact on the health of homosexual adolescents and young people, with consequences such as: social isolation, depression, suicidal ideation and attempt, low performance, low self-esteem, higher social exposures and an increase in internalized homophobia.
On April 29, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend federal law to classify as "hate crimes" attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity (as well as mental or physical disability).
