FBI Shows
Gay-Bashing Increase in 2006

Hate crimes against gays made up 16% of total documented hate crimes across the United States in 2006, up from 14% in 2005, the FBI reported Monday.

The rate of all bias-motivated crimes increased 8% in 2006. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the third most common type, behind race and religion, according to the annual report.

In May the House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act -- known as the Matthew Shepard Act -- in a bipartisan vote, and the Senate approved it as well. If enacted, the proposed law would give the federal government expanded jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violent crimes based on a person's race, color, religion, or national origin as well as their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability. It also provides assistance to local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence, according to an Human Rights Campaign press release. Existing federal hate-crimes law covers only those based on a victim's race, color, religion, and national origin.

"This FBI report confirms what the Human Rights Campaign has known for over a decade -- that hate-crimes protections for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community are long overdue," HRC president Joe Solmonese said in a statement. "We urge Congress to send this legislation immediately to the president's desk, and for the president to sign it into law." (The Advocate)