Hate Crimes: What You Need to Know & How You Can Help

The horrific attack on Jussie Smollett has captured the attention of the media, and the alarming reality is that these attacks are happening to people practically every day across this country. In fact, FBI hate crimes statistics released last year revealed a disturbing increase of 17 percent in reported hate crimes from the previous year.

A hate crime, also known as a bias-motivated crime, occurs when the perpetrator intentionally selects the victim because of a bias or prejudice. Each year, thousands of violent hate crimes occur. They affect not only the victims and their families, but the entire community or group of people that they target.

Most hate crimes are prosecuted at the state level, which is why state laws are so important. Unfortunately there are gaps in protections from state to state. Five states (Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming) have no laws addressing the scourge of hate crimes, and there is variation in the list of protected characteristics in states that do have enumerated hate crime laws. Only 19 states and the District of Columbia have laws that address hate or bias crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Eleven states have laws that address hate or bias crimes based on sexual orientation only. Learn more about the hate crimes laws in your state.

Last year, the nation marked 20 years since Matthew Shepard’s brutal murder. Just months before Matthew was murdered, James Byrd, Jr., a Black man, was beaten by a group of white supremacists, tied to the back of a pickup truck and dragged three miles before dying. After their murders, both families became tireless advocates for a more inclusive federal hate crimes law. Their work led to the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Action (HCPA) in 2009. This law made numerous gains at the federal level — but state hate crimes laws remain critically important because that’s where most crimes are prosecuted. Learn more about what the HCPA does and doesn’t do.

Many people do not realize that reporting hate crimes to the FBI is voluntary — meaning thousands of law enforcement agencies are not reporting these crimes to the FBI. As a result, these crimes are undercounted and we do not have accurate data. For example, the entire state of Mississippi reported only one hate crime in 2017 — that’s not because they have fewer hate crimes than most small and medium sized cities, it’s because they are not reported. In fact, according to a 2016 Associated Press study, nearly 17 percent of all city and county law enforcement agencies nationwide failed to report hate crimes data to the FBI in the prior six years.

In order to address this scourge of violence, HRC continues to fight for action in four key areas:

1. Expanded hate crimes laws that explicitly include LGBTQ people and victims from marginalized communities
2. More robust training, education, and resources for law enforcement on hate crimes investigating and reporting
3. Mandatory reporting by local law enforcement of hate crimes to the FBI
4. Greater awareness about the epidemic of hate violence and the communities most vulnerable to it.

The shocking attack on Jussie Smollett is, unfortunately, not an isolated incident. There is an alarming epidemic of hate violence in our country that disproportionately targets Black people, LGBTQ people, and religious minorities — and particularly those living at the intersections of multiple identities. If you or someone you know has been the victim of a hate crime, here are four things you should do:

1. Get medical help, if necessary.
2. Write down all of the details of the crime as soon as possible after the incident. Include the gender, age, height, race, weight, clothes and other distinguishing characteristics of the perpetrator(s). If any threats or biased comments were made (such as anti-LGBTQ or racial epithets), include them in the report.
3. File reports. When filing a police report, be sure to get the responding officer’s name and badge number. Make sure the officer files an incident report form and assigns a case number. If a police report is not taken at the time of your report, go to the police station and ask for one. Always get your own copy, even of the preliminary report.
   If you believe the incident was bias-motivated, urge the officer to check the  “hate/bias-motivation” or “hate crime/incident” box on the police report.
4. Reach out for support. If you feel comfortable and safe to do so, reach out to friends and family about the attack. You might also find comfort and healing in professional help from an LGBTQ-affirmative counselor or therapist. The FBI has resources to help victims of crime, and you can contact anti-violence support services, such as the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

www.hrc.org/blog/hate-crimes-what-you-need-to-know-how-you-can-help?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Dems Choose Georgia’s Stacey Abrams To Respond To Trump’s State Of The Union

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has been chosen to deliver the Democratic response to President Trump’s State of the Union address next week reported MSNBC.

“She is just a great spokesperson. She is an incredible leader,” Schumer told reporters at the Capitol in the video below. “She has led the charge for voting rights, which is at the root of just about everything else. And she has, if you look at her background — she knows what working people, middle-class people go through.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was thrilled Abrams had accepted, according to NPR.

Pelosi said that in the 2018 campaign her “electrifying message reinvigorated our nation & continues to inspire millions in every part of the country.”

We are thrilled to have @StaceyAbrams deliver the Democratic Response to the State of the Union. Her electrifying message reinvigorated our nation & continues to inspire millions in every part of the country. #SOTU t.co/ISywFm7PQ3 pic.twitter.com/JiuOA9kTyj— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 29, 2019

We are thrilled to have @StaceyAbrams deliver the Democratic Response to the State of the Union. Her electrifying message reinvigorated our nation & continues to inspire millions in every part of the country. #SOTU t.co/ISywFm7PQ3 pic.twitter.com/JiuOA9kTyj

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 29, 2019

Abrams said was honored to be delivering the response.

At a moment when our nation needs to hear from leaders who can unite for a common purpose, I am honored to be delivering the Democratic State of the Union response. t.co/0dpA3lJZpS

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) January 29, 2019

The democratic rising power and former Georgia House minority leader lost by almost 55,000 votes against Republican Brian Kemp, the then-secretary of state who came under fire for alleged voter suppression tactics. 

Abrams is also being courted as a possible Senate candidate in 2020 to challenge Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue said NPR.

The post Dems Choose Georgia’s Stacey Abrams To Respond To Trump’s State Of The Union appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Dems Choose Georgia’s Stacey Abrams To Respond To Trump’s State Of The Union

New CDC Report Highlights Need To Support Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Youth

Trigger warning: Post contains references to suicide and self-harm.

A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed some of the challenges transgender high school students experience.

The alarming CDC data revealed that 27 percent of transgender and gender-nonconforming youth feel unsafe traveling to school and being there, 35 percent are bullied and 35 percent have attempted suicide in the past 12 months. Additionally, the report found that transgender and gender non-conforming youth are at higher risk of attempting suicide than their peers.

“These findings indicate a need for intervention efforts to improve health outcomes among transgender youths,” the report notes.

Dr. Kathleen Ethier, the director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, will present the details of this report at HRC Foundation’s 6th annual Time to THRIVE Conference next month in Anaheim, California. The data is consistent with what the HRC Foundation and University of Connecticut’s 2018 LGBTQ Youth Report, which underscores these significant challenges and barriers facing transgender and gender-expansive youth around the country, found.

HRC and researchers at the University of Connecticut found that less than a quarter of transgender and gender-expansive youth feel like they can definitely be themselves at home. More than half of transgender and gender expansive youth never use restrooms at school that align with their gender identity.

For transgender and gender-expansive youth, parental and peer support is incredibly important. In light of growing transgender visibility in recent years, HRC is committed to providing the kinds of resources children, families and other youth-serving professionals need to support one another in their journeys.  

That’s why HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools released an “FAQ on Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Students in K-12 Schools” to guide educators looking for answers on how to support transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming students.

HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program also provides specific guidance to parents, teachers and the wider community for preventing anti-LGBTQ bullying and aggression in schools. This can be as simple as responding appropriately to anti-LGBTQ comments in the classroom, or encouraging educators to promote inclusivity and diversity in their lesson plans.

Parents and families can start by learning the facts and educating themselves about issues that impact LGBTQ youth. Whether or not families have openly LGBTQ children, it is vital to make home a safe and affirming space for all identities.

Parents of transgender youth can also join HRC Foundation’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council — a vocal force of parent-advocates fighting for equality.

If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. If you’re a young LGBTQ person and need to talk to someone, call The Trevor Project’s 24-hour crisis hotline for youth at 1-866-488-7386. If you are a transgender person of any age, call the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860.

To learn more about transgender and gender expansive youth resources, visit hrc.org/transgender.

www.hrc.org/blog/new-cdc-report-highlights-need-to-support-trans-and-gender-non-conforming-y?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The Queer Sex Panic Is Just Beginning

With society and bipartisan lawmakers policing porn, our sexual freedom suddenly seems at risk. 

www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/1/30/queer-sex-panic-just-beginning

Lee Daniels Reacts to Jussie Smollett Attack in Emotional Video as FBI Joins Investigation, Police Expand Search Area: WATCH

Empire creator Lee Daniels posted an emotional video message to actor Jussie Smollett on Instagram following an attack in which it was reported that two men beat Smollett on a Chicago street, poured bleach on him, and put a noose around his neck while using racist and homophobic slurs.

View this post on Instagram

We got this @jussiesmollett

A post shared by Lee Daniels (@theoriginalbigdaddy) on Jan 29, 2019 at 10:55am PST

Said Daniels in the video posted to Instagram: “It’s taken me a minute to come to social media about this because, Jussie, you are my son. You didn’t deserve nor anybody deserves to have a noose put around your neck, to have bleach thrown on you, to be called ‘die f****t n****r or whatever they said to you. You are better than that. We are better than that. America is better than that. It starts at home. It starts at home, yo. We have to love each other regardless of what sexual orientation we are because it shows that we are united on a united front and no racist f**k can come in and do the things that they did to you. Hold your head up, Jussie. I’m with you. I’ll be there in a minute. It’s just another f**king day in America.”

Meanwhile, Chicago Police confirmed to ABC News that the FBI has reportedly joined the investigation into the attack, which is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Yesterday, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police had expanded the search area for surveillance video in efforts to find any footage of the attack.

RELATED: ‘Empire’ Actor Jussie Smollett Hospitalized in Chicago After Violent Racial Homophobic Attack

Tweeted Guglielmi: “CASE UPDATE: Tonight #ChicagoPolice detectives expanded the search area for cameras to be able to provide photos of the alleged assailants in this attack. Thus far, no video of the alleged assailants or a vehicle has been discovered but we are continuing to broaden our search”

The mood was somber on the set of Empire in Chicago on Tuesday: Deadline reports: ‘Counselors and a SAG-AFTRA representative were made available on the set of the Terrence Howard-Taraji P. Henson series Tuesday to talk with and listen to cast, crew and producers. The intention is that those trauma counselors will continue to maintain a presence on the Windy City-filmed Empire over the coming few weeks as Smollett returns to the show and the law enforcement investigation into the two men who attacked the actor unfolds. Key principals on the show were informed early Tuesday of the racist and homophobic slurs, beating and chemical substance-drenching Smollett endured despite attempting to defend himself. However, the overall Empire set was told collectively by a producer of what had happened to the actor who plays Jamal Lyon on the show.’

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Lee Daniels Reacts to Jussie Smollett Attack in Emotional Video as FBI Joins Investigation, Police Expand Search Area: WATCH