One-third of hate crimes were directed at LGBTQ+ people in the United States last year, according to the FBI.
Earlier this week, the bureau released the Hate Crime Statistics, 2019, from the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR).
The data, which was submitted by 15,588 law enforcement agencies, shows that 16.7% of victims were attacked because of their sexual orientation, the third largest category after race and religion.
Victims who were targeted because of their gender identity made up 2.7%, a half-percentage point increase from 2018.
Tracking and reporting hate crimes isn’t required by state and local law enforcement agencies, so these figures are likely to be much higher.
The total number of agencies tracking these statistics also fell by 451 last year, with 71 cities boasting populations over 100,000 reporting zero hate crimes – statistically, this is impossible.
“Yet another year with alarming levels of bias-motivated crimes underscores just how urgent it is to address this hate crimes epidemic,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President.
“This year, we saw a tragic new record of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people in this country, particularly against Black and Brown transgender women.
“These alarming statistics represent real trauma for individuals and families across this country who have to bear the brunt of these hate crimes.”
David continued to stress the importance of reporting hate crimes across the United States, and “better training for law enforcement officers to recognise bias-motivated crimes.”
Beatrice Girmala, the Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, told the LA Blade that the LAPD are committed to investigating hate crimes and preventing them from happening in the future.
“As a community, our collective commitment must be unwavering –to protect, support, and defend the rights and safety of all transgender,” she said, adding: “Nothing and no one thrives in the shadows.
“Let light, unity, and the goal of equality define our message during Transgender Awareness Month.”
36 transgender individuals have been killed in the United States this year, making 2020 the deadliest year on record for the transgender community.
A large majority of these victims are transgender women of colour.
The HRC (Human Rights Campaign) have been tracking murders within the trans community since 2013, and said they have “never seen such a high number at this point in the year.”
You can read the FBI’s full report on 2019 hate crimes in the United States here.
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