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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Jul 28, 2010
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reported 22 anti-LGBTQ killings in 2009, the second-highest number in a decade.
Of the 22 deaths, 79 percent were people of color and most were transgender women.
“These facts are deeply disturbing, as these are the same people who are more likely to face discrimination, criminalization or further violence when interacting with criminal legal and social service systems. What we see is that they are less likely to seek and access support from these institutions,” said Maria Carolina Morales of Community United Against Violence in San Francisco.
The rise in deaths came as NCAVP organizations reported a loss in personnel and a drop in funding for programs.
“During the past year, NCAVP member organizations lost crucial staff and programming in the wake of the fiscal crisis. In a survey of members participating in this report, 50 percent of respondents laid off staff, 70 percent reported budget decreases and others could not expand positions, staff hours or programming, despite a demonstrated need for such growth. We believe that this drastically limited the ability of LGBTQ people to report violence and access vital support and services in 2009,” said Lisa Gilmore of Education and Victim Advocacy at Center on Halsted in Chicago. “While the total number of reported incidents of hate violence declined slightly in 2009, we suspect that this represents a decrease in reporting, not in actual violence.”
The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center was the local reporting agency to the NCAVP. The center, for 2009, reported 17 bias-motivated incidents involving 17 offenders and 17 victims, according to the annual survey. The numbers were down slightly from 2008.
