LGBTQ advocates are expressing concern after FBI data released this week revealed that despite a decrease in violent crime across the U.S., hate crimes — particularly against their community — increased in 2023.
Despite regular conservative rhetoric that violent crime is on the rise, the FBI findings, which are based on local law enforcement submissions, showed a 3% overall decrease from 2022 to 2023. That’s a return to what had been years of falling crime rates since the 1990s, with the exception of an increase amid the social upheaval starting with the 2020 pandemic. But the new data also showed hate crimes have increased in the past two years, with the largest increase against LGBTQ people.
Analysis by ABC News revealed there were at least 2,389 recorded incidents where bias against a victim’s sexual orientation, excluding heterosexuality, was a motivator. In 2022, that number was about 2,188 and about 1,300 in 2021.