History of violence against LGBT people in the United States
Encyclopedia
The history of violence against LGBT people in the United States
is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexual, transgender
, queer
and intersex
individuals (LGBTQI), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime
statistics in the United States of America. Those targeted by such violence are perceived to violate heteronormative
rules and contravene perceived protocols of gender
and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBTQI may also be targeted.
A hate crime
is simply defined as when individuals become victimized because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. Hate crimes against LGBTQI people often occur because the perpetrators are homophobic
. Violence targeted at people because of their perceived sexuality can be psychological and physical up to and including murder
. These actions may be caused by cultural, religious, or political mores
and biases.
reported that 15.6% of hate crimes reported to police were founded on perceived sexual orientation
. Sixty-one percent of those attacks were against gay men, 14% against lesbians, 2% against heterosexuals and 1% against bisexuals, while attacks against LGBT people at large made up 20%. Violence based on perceived gender identity
was not recorded in the report.
The FBI reported that for 2006, hate crimes against gays increased to 16% from 14% in 2005, as percentage of total documented hate crimes across the U.S. The 2006 annual report, released on November 19, 2007, also said that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the third most common type, behind race and religion.
In 2008, 17.6% of hate crimes were based on the victim's perceived sexual orientation. Of those crimes, 72.23% were violent in nature. 4,704 crimes were committed due to racial bias and 1,617 were committed due to sexual orientation. Of these, only one murder and one forcible rape were committed due to racial bias, whereas five murders and six rapes were committed based on sexual orientation.
Santa Clara County
Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Jay Boyarsky attributed a surge in anti-gay hate crimes, from 3 in 2007 to 14 in 2008, to controversy over Proposition 8
. However, the DDA cautioned against reading too much from small statistical samples, pointing out that the vast majority of hate incidents do not get referred to the District Attorney
's office.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexual, transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
, queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
and intersex
Intersex
Intersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
individuals (LGBTQI), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
statistics in the United States of America. Those targeted by such violence are perceived to violate heteronormative
Heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is a term invented in 1991 to describe any of a set of lifestyle norms that hold that people fall into distinct and complementary genders with natural roles in life. It also holds that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation, and states that sexual and marital relations...
rules and contravene perceived protocols of gender
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBTQI may also be targeted.
A hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
is simply defined as when individuals become victimized because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. Hate crimes against LGBTQI people often occur because the perpetrators are homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. Violence targeted at people because of their perceived sexuality can be psychological and physical up to and including murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. These actions may be caused by cultural, religious, or political mores
Mores
Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
and biases.
Federal hate crime statistics
In 2004, the FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
reported that 15.6% of hate crimes reported to police were founded on perceived sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Sixty-one percent of those attacks were against gay men, 14% against lesbians, 2% against heterosexuals and 1% against bisexuals, while attacks against LGBT people at large made up 20%. Violence based on perceived gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
was not recorded in the report.
The FBI reported that for 2006, hate crimes against gays increased to 16% from 14% in 2005, as percentage of total documented hate crimes across the U.S. The 2006 annual report, released on November 19, 2007, also said that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the third most common type, behind race and religion.
In 2008, 17.6% of hate crimes were based on the victim's perceived sexual orientation. Of those crimes, 72.23% were violent in nature. 4,704 crimes were committed due to racial bias and 1,617 were committed due to sexual orientation. Of these, only one murder and one forcible rape were committed due to racial bias, whereas five murders and six rapes were committed based on sexual orientation.
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Jay Boyarsky attributed a surge in anti-gay hate crimes, from 3 in 2007 to 14 in 2008, to controversy over Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
. However, the DDA cautioned against reading too much from small statistical samples, pointing out that the vast majority of hate incidents do not get referred to the District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office.
1970–1979
- March 1970 - Howard Efland, a gay man who had checked into the Dover Hotel under the pseudonym of J. McCann, was beaten to death by officers of the Los Angeles Police DepartmentLos Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. - June 24, 1973 - The Upstairs Lounge in New OrleansNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, a gay bar, was burned by an arsonArsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
ist, killing 32 people. - June 21, 1977 - Robert Hillsborough was stabbed to death in San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
by a man shouting "faggot". - July 5, 1978 - A gang of youths armed with baseball bats and tree branches assaulted several men in an area of Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
known to be frequented by homosexuals. The victims were assaulted at random, but the assailants later confessed that they had deliberately set out to the park to attack homosexuals. One of those injured was former figure skater Dick ButtonDick ButtonRichard Totten "Dick" Button is an American former figure skater and a well-known long-time skating television analyst. He is a two-time Olympic Champion and five-time World Champion...
, who was assaulted while watching a fireworks display in the park. - November 27, 1978 - Openly gay San Francisco city supervisor Harvey MilkHarvey MilkHarvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
, along with Mayor George MosconeGeorge MosconeGeorge Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
, was assassinated by political rival Dan WhiteDan WhiteDaniel James "Dan" White was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall...
at San Francisco City Hall. Outrage over the assassinations and the short sentence given to White (seven years) prompted the White Night RiotsWhite Night RiotsThe White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of the lenient sentencing of Dan White, for the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. The events took place on the night of May 21, 1979 in San Francisco...
. - January 1979 - Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsThomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
was the victim of an assault in Key WestKey WestKey West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
, being beaten by five teenage boys. He escaped serious injury. The episode was part of a spate of anti-gay violence inspired by an anti-gay newspaper ad run by a local BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister. - June 5, 1979 - Terry Knudsen was beaten to death by three men in Loring Park in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. - September 7, 1979 - Robert Allen Taylor was stabbed to death near Loring Park in Minneapolis. A local reporter interviewed the murderer from jail and was told, "I don't like gays. Okay?"
- October 7, 1979 - 17-year-old Steven Charles of NewarkNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
was beaten to death in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by Costabile "Gus" FaraceCostabile FaraceCostabile "Gus" Farace, Jr. was a low-level criminal with the Bonanno crime family who murdered a teenage male prostitute and a federal Drug Enforcement Agency agent in New York City.-Early years:Farace was born in 1960 in Bushwick to Costabile Farace Sr...
, Robert DeLicio, David Spoto and Farace's cousin Mark Granato. They also beat Charles' friend, 16-year-old Thomas Moore of Brooklyn. Moore was critically injured but managed to get help at a nearby residence. It was Moore that identified the four men via a lineup four days after the incident. Farace, the leader of the attack, plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was paroled after 8 years, in 1988. He himself was murdered on November 17, 1989.
1980–1989
- 1984 - Charlie HowardCharlie Howard (murder victim)Charles O. Howard was an American hate-crime victim in Bangor, Maine in 1984. As Howard and a male companion, Roy Ogden, were walking down the street, three teenagers, Shawn I. Mabry, age 16, James Francis Baines, age 15, and Daniel Ness, age 17, harassed Howard for being gay...
was drowned in Bangor, MaineBangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
. - May 13, 1988 - Rebecca WightRebecca WightRebecca Wight , a 28-year-old woman, was murdered on May 13, 1988, in Pennsylvania's Michaux State Forest, when Stephen Ray Carr fired on Wight and her gay partner Claudia Brenner .-The Background:...
was killed when she and her partner, Claudia Brenner, were shot by Stephen Roy Carr while hiking and camping along the Appalachian TrailAppalachian TrailThe Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
. Carr later claimed that he became enraged by the couple's lesbianism when he saw them having sex
1990–1999
- 1990 - James ZappalortiJames ZappalortiJames Patrick Zappalorti , a disabled veteran of the Vietnam War, was the victim of a highly-publicized, fatal gay-bashing attack on Staten Island, New York.- Biography :...
, a gay VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
veteran, was stabbed to death. - July 2, 1990 - Julio Rivera was murdered in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by two men who beat him with a hammer and stabbed him with a knife because he was gay. - 1991 - Paul BroussardPaul BroussardPaul Broussard , a 27 year-old Houston-area banker and Texas A&M alumnus, was beaten and stabbed to death in a gay-bashing outside a Houston nightclub on July 4, 1991 by ten teenaged boys...
, a Houston-area banker, was murdered. - October 27, 1992 - U.S. Navy Petty Officer Allen SchindlerAllen R. Schindler, Jr.Allen R. Schindler, Jr. was an Americ Radioman Petty Officer Third Class in the United States Navy who was murdered for being gay. He was killed in a public toilet in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan by shipmate Terry M. Helvey, who acted with the aid of an accomplice, Charles Vins, in what Esquire called...
was murdered by a shipmate who stomped him to death in a public restroom in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Schindler had complained repeatedly about anti-gay harassment aboard ship. The case became synonymous with the gays in the military debate that had been brewing in the United States culminating in the "Don't ask, don't tellDon't ask, don't tell"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
" bill. - 1993 - Brandon TeenaBrandon TeenaBrandon Teena was an American trans man who was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska. His life and death were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.-Life:Teena was born Teena Renae Brandon in Lincoln,...
, a trans manTrans manA trans man, transman, trans guy, or FTM is a transgender or transsexual man: a person who was assigned female at birth, but who identifies as male....
, was raped and later killed when his birth gender was revealed by police to male friends of his. The events leading to Teena's death were depicted in the movie Boys Don't CryBoys Don't Cry (film)Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American independent romantic drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man played by Hilary Swank, who pursues a relationship with a young woman, played by Chloë...
. - March 9, 1995 - Scott AmedureScott AmedureScott Bernard Amedure was an American murder victim who was fatally shot after revealing on The Jenny Jones Show that he was attracted to an acquaintance. The acquaintance, Jonathan Schmitz–who had a long-standing history of mental illness–later shot Amedure and was found guilty of second degree...
was murdered after revealing his attraction to his friend Jonathan Schmitz on a The Jenny Jones Show episode about secret crushes. Schmidtz purchased a shotgun to kill Amedure and did so after Amedure implied he still was attracted to him; Schmitz then turned himself in to police. - December 4, 1995 - Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill, a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
couple in Medford, OregonMedford, OregonMedford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon...
, were murdered by a man who said he had "no compassion" for bisexual or homosexual people. Robert Acremant was convicted and sentenced to deathCapital punishmentCapital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by lethal injectionLethal injectionLethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
. - February 21, 1997 - The Otherside Lounge, a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, was bombed by Eric Robert RudolphEric Robert RudolphEric Robert Rudolph , also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is a criminal responsible for a series of bombings across the southern United States between 1996 and 1998, which killed two people and injured at least 150 others in the name of an anti-abortion and anti-gay agenda...
, the "Olympic Park BomberCentennial Olympic Park bombingThe Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing on July 27, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States during the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph...
;" five bar patrons were injured. In a statement released after he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms for his several bombings, Rudolph called homosexuality an "aberrant lifestyle". - October 7, 1998 - Matthew ShepardMatthew ShepardMatthew Wayne Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998...
, a gay student, in Laramie, WyomingLaramie, WyomingLaramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
was tortured, beaten severely, tied to a fence, and abandoned; he was found 18 hours after the attack and succumbed to his injuries less than a week later, on October 12. His attackers, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, are both serving two consecutive life sentences in prison. - July 1, 1999 - Gay couple Gary MatsonGary MatsonGary Matson and Winfield Mowder were a gay couple from Redding, California, who were murdered by white supremacist brothers Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams...
and Winfield Mowder were murdered by white supremacist brothers Matthew and Tyler Williams in Redding, CaliforniaRedding, CaliforniaRedding is a city in far-Northern California. It is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA. With a population of 89,861, according to the 2010 Census...
. Tyler Williams was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in prison, to be served after his completion of a 21-year sentence for firebombing synagogues and an abortion clinic. Benjamin Williams claimed that by killing the couple he was "obeying the laws of the Creator". He committed suicide in 2003 while awaiting trial. Their former pastor described the brothers as "zealous in their faith" but "far from kooks". - July 6, 1999 - U.S. Army Pfc. Barry WinchellBarry WinchellBarry Winchell was an infantry soldier in the United States Army, whose murder by a fellow soldier, Calvin Glover, became a point of reference in the ongoing debate about the law known as "Don't ask, don't tell", which required the US military to discharge service members based on sexual...
was murdered in Fort CampbellFort CampbellFort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee...
, Kentucky by fellow soldier Calvin Glover. Winchell was beaten to death with a baseball bat after rumors spread on base of his relationship with transgendered author Calpernia AddamsCalpernia AddamsCalpernia Sarah Addams is an American author, actress, musician, and a spokesperson and activist for transgender rights and issues.-Biography:...
. Glover was sentenced to life in prison. - September 1999 - Steen FenrichSteen FenrichSteen Fenrich was a 19-year-old African American gay man who lived in Bayside, Queens New York. In March 2001 his dismembered remains were discovered. Police believe his stepfather, John Fenrich, killed his stepson in a homophobic rage.-Background:Steen Fenrich entered the Army in July 1997, and...
was murdered, apparently by his stepfather, John D. Fenrich, in QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York. His dismembered remains were found in March 2001, with the phrase "gay nigger number one" scrawled on his skull along with his social security numberSocial Security numberIn the United States, a Social Security number is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents under section 205 of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent...
. His stepfather fled from police while being interviewed, then committed suicide. - October 15, 1999 - Sissy "Charles" Bolden was found shot to death in Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah, GeorgiaSavannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. Police arrested Charles E. Wilkins, Jr., in July 2003; he admitted the killing, and was charged in two other homicides, according to the Savannah Police Department.
2000–2009
On the 29 April 2009, The U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend federal laws to classify as "hate crimes" attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity (as well as mental or physical disability).- July 3, 2000 - Arthur "J.R." WarrenArthur WarrenArthur "J.R." Warren was a 26-year-old African American gay man, who resided in Grant Town, West Virginia. On July 3, 2000 he was murdered by two teenage white males, in what is believed to have been a hate crime.-The Background:...
was punched and kicked to death in Grant Town, West VirginiaGrant Town, West VirginiaGrant Town is a town in Marion County, West Virginia, in the eastern United States. The population was 657 at the 2000 census.The town was formed in 1901 with the opening of the Federal Coal and Coke Company bituminous coal mine, and was named for Robert Grant, vice president of the coal company. ...
by two teenage boys who reportedly believed Warren had spread a rumor that he and one of the boys, David Allen Parker, had a sexual relationship. Warren's killers ran over his body to disguise the murder as a hit-and-runHit and run (vehicular)Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
. Parker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to "life in prison with mercy", making him eligible for parole after 15 years. His accomplice, Jared Wilson, was sentenced to 20 years. - September 22, 2000 - Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, VirginiaRoanoke, VirginiaRoanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet, 43 years old, and severely injuring six others. Ronald said he was angry over what his name now meant, and deeply upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He claimed that he had been told by GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to find and kill lesbians and gay men, describing himself as a "Christian Soldier working for my Lord;" Gay testified in court that "he wished he could have killed more fags," before several of the shooting victims as well as Danny Overstreet's family and friends. - June 16, 2001 - Fred Martinez, a transgender and two-spiritTwo-SpiritTwo-Spirit People , is an English term that emerged in 1990 out of the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay/lesbian American conference in Winnipeg. It describes Indigenous North Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native...
student was bludgeoned to death near Cortez, ColoradoCortez, ColoradoThe city of Cortez is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,482 at the 2010 census...
by 18-year-old Shaun Murphy, who reportedly bragged about attacking a "fag". - June 12, 2002 - Philip Walsted, a gay man, was fatally beaten with a baseball bat. According to prosecutors, the neo-Nazi views of Walsted's assailant's, David Higdon, led to what was originally a robbery escalating to murder. Higdon was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional sentence for robbery.
- October 3, 2002 - Gwen AraujoGwen AraujoGwen Amber Rose Araujo , born Edward Araujo, Jr., an American teenage pre-operative transgender woman, was murdered in Newark, California, in October 2002. She was killed by four men, with two of whom she had been sexually intimate, who beat and strangled her after discovering she was transgender...
, a trans womanTrans womanA trans woman is a male-to-female transsexual or transgender person and the term trans woman is preferred by some individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl, tg-girl and ts-girl...
, was murdered by at least three men who were charged with committing a hate crime. Two were convicted of murder, the third manslaughter; however, the jury rejected the hate crime enhancement. - December 24, 2002 - Nizah MorrisNizah MorrisNizah Morris was an American transgender entertainer. On December 22, 2002 Morris suffered a severe head injury from which she did not recover. Morris died on December 24, 2002, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, when she was removed from life support...
, a trans womanTrans womanA trans woman is a male-to-female transsexual or transgender person and the term trans woman is preferred by some individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl, tg-girl and ts-girl...
, was possibly murdered in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. - May 11, 2003 - Sakia GunnSakia GunnSakia Gunn was a 15-year old African American lesbian who was murdered as a hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. Richard McCullough was charged with her death and sentenced to 20 years in prison.-The murder:...
, a 15-year-old lesbian, was murdered in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. While waiting for a bus, Gunn and her friends were propositioned by two men. When the girls rejected their advances, declaring themselves to be lesbians, the men attacked them. One of the men, Richard McCullough, fatally stabbed Gunn. In exchange for his pleading guilty to several lesser crimes including aggravated manslaughter, prosecutors dropped murder charges against McCullough, who was sentenced to 20 years. - June 17, 2003 - Richie PhillipsGuin Richie PhillipsGuin "Richie" Phillips was a 36-year-old gay man in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Phillips disappeared on June 17, 2003. His body was found on June 25, 2003, in a suitcase in Rough River Lake.- Background :...
of Elizabethtown, KentuckyElizabethtown, KentuckyElizabethtown is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in the state...
was killed by Joseph Cottrell. His body was later found in a suitcase in Rough River LakeRough River LakeRough River Lake is a reservoir in Breckinridge, Grayson, and Hardin counties in Kentucky. It was impounded from the Rough River in 1959 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It is the primary attraction of Rough River Dam State Resort Park....
. During his trial, two of Cottrell's relatives testified that he lured Phillips to his death, and killed him because he was gay. Cottrell was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison. - July 23, 2003 - Nireah JohnsonNireah JohnsonNireah Johnson was an African American transgender woman, murdered in Indianapolis, Indiana by Paul Moore, after Moore discovered Johnson was not a cisgender woman.-Background:...
and Brandie Coleman were shot to death by Paul Moore, when Moore learned after a sexual encounter that Johnson was transgenderTransgenderTransgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
. Moore then burned his victims' bodies. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 120 years in prison. - July 31, 2003 - 37-year-old Glenn Kopitske was shot and stabbed in the back by 17-year-old Gary Hirte, a straight-A student, star athlete and Eagle ScoutEagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
, in Winnebago County, WisconsinWinnebago County, WisconsinWinnebago County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2009, the population estimate was 163,370. Its county seat is Oshkosh. Winnebago County is included in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Neenah, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. Prosecutors contended that Hirte murdered Kopitske to see if he could get away with it. Hirte pleaded insanity, claiming he killed Kopitske in a murderous rage after a consensual sexual encounter with the victim, because he felt a homosexual act was "worse than murder". The 'temporary insanity' mitigation plea was not upheld, he was found guilty, and received a life sentenceLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. - July 22, 2004 - 18-year-old Scotty Joe WeaverScotty Joe WeaverScotty Joe Weaver was an 18-year-old murder victim from Bay Minette, Alabama, whose burned and partially-decomposed body was discovered on July 22, 2004, a few miles from the mobile home in which he lived...
of Bay Minette, AlabamaBay Minette, AlabamaBay Minette is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 7,820. According to the 2007 U.S. Census estimates, the city had an population of about 7,726 people. The city is the county seat of Baldwin County...
, was murdered. His burned and partially decomposed body was discovered a few miles from the mobile home in which he lived. He was beaten, strangled and stabbed numerous times, partially decapitated, and his body was doused in gasoline and set on fire. - October 2, 2004 - Daniel Fetty, a gay man who was hearing-impaired and homeless was attacked by multiple assailants in Waverly, OhioWaverly, OhioWaverly is a village in and the county seat of Pike County, Ohio, United States. The population was at 4,433 at the 2000 census. The town was formed in 1829, as the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal along the west bank of the Scioto River brought new growth to the area. In 1861 the county...
. Fetty was beaten, stomped, shoved nude into a garbage bin, impaled with a stick, and left for dead; he succumbed to his injuries the next day. Prosecuters alleged a hate crime. Three men received sentences ranging from seven years to life. - January 28, 2005 - Ronnie Antonio ParisRonnie ParisRonnie Antonio Paris was a three-year-old boy who lived with his parents in Tampa, Florida. He died on January 28, 2005, due to brain injuries stemming from severe abuse at the hands of his father, who thought the child would turn out to be gay, and forced the boy to box with him in an effort to...
, a three-year-old boy living in Tampa, FloridaTampa, FloridaTampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, died due to brain injuries inflicted by his father, Ronnie Paris, Jr. According to his mother and other relatives, Ronnie Paris, Jr., repeatedly slammed his son into walls, slapped the child's head, and "boxedBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
" him because he was concerned the child was gay and would grow up a sissy. Paris was sentenced to thirty years in prison. - On February 27, 2005, in Santa Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, 21-year-old James Maestas was assaulted outside a restaurant, then followed to a hotel and beaten unconscious by men who called him "faggot" during the attack. Although all of his attackers were charged with committing a hate crime, none was sentenced to prison. - March 11, 2005 - Jason GageJason GageJason Gage was a 29-year-old man who was murdered in his Waterloo, Iowa apartment.-Background:Jason Gage was last seen alive on March 11, 2005, socializing with friends in Waterloo's downtown bars. Sometime that night he went home to his apartment in the Russell-Lamson building. With him was...
, an openly gay man, was murdered in his Waterloo, IowaWaterloo, IowaWaterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...
, apartment by an assailant, Joseph Lawrence, who claimed GageJason GageJason Gage was a 29-year-old man who was murdered in his Waterloo, Iowa apartment.-Background:Jason Gage was last seen alive on March 11, 2005, socializing with friends in Waterloo's downtown bars. Sometime that night he went home to his apartment in the Russell-Lamson building. With him was...
had made sexual advance to him. Gage was bludgeonClub (weapon)A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
ed to death with a bottle, and stabbed in the neck, probably post-mortem, with a shard of glass. Lawrence was sentenced to fifty years in prison. - February 2, 2006 - 18-year-old Jacob D. RobidaJacob D. RobidaJacob D. Robida was a Massachusetts teenager who attacked three patrons at a New Bedford gay bar on February 2, 2006. He fled the state and drove to Charleston, West Virginia, where he allegedly kidnapped a female companion and drove southwest. He was stopped by Gassville, Arkansas Police Officer...
entered a bar in New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
, confirmed that it was a gay barGay barA gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
, and then attacked patrons with a hatchet and a handgun, wounding three. He fatally shot himself three days later. - June 10, 2006 - Kevin AvianceKevin AvianceKevin Aviance is an American female impressionist, Club/Dance musician, and fashion designer and nightclub personality. He is a very popular personality in New York City's gay scene and has performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He is a member of the House of Aviance, a local gay...
, a female impressionist, musician, and fashion designer, was robbed and beaten in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four assailants pleaded guilty and received prison sentences. - July 30, 2006 - Six men were attacked with baseball batBaseball batA baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
s and knives after leaving the San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
Gay PrideGay prideLGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
festival. One victim was injured so severely that he had to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery. Three men pleaded guilty in connection with the attacks and received prison sentences. A 15-year-old juvenile also pleaded guilty. - August 18, 2006 - An altercation2006 Greenwich Village assault caseThe 2006 Greenwich Village assault case was an altercation on August 18, 2006 between Dwayne Buckle and a group of seven young black lesbian friends from Newark, New Jersey, outside of the IFC Center movie theater in Greenwich Village...
occurred in Manhattan between a man and seven black lesbians from Newark, New Jersey. During the altercation, the man was stabbed. The women claim that they acted in self-defense after he screamed homophobic epithets, spit on them, and pulled one of their weaves off, while he has described the attack as "a hate crime against a straight man." - October 8, 2006 - Michael SandyMichael SandyMichael Sandy was an African-American man from Brooklyn, New York, who died after being hit by a car while trying to escape four attackers who attempted to rob him because he was gay.- Background :...
was attacked by four young heterosexual men who lured him into meeting after chatting online, while they were looking for gay men to rob. He was struck by a car while trying to escape his attackers, and died five days later without regaining consciousness. - February 27, 2007 - Andrew Anthos, a 72-year-old disabled gay man, was beaten with a lead pipe in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
by a man who was shouting anti-gay names at him. Anthos died 10 days later in the hospital. - March 15, 2007 - Ryan Keith Skipper, a 25-year-old gay man was stabbed to death in Wahneta, FloridaWahneta, FloridaWahneta is a census-designated place in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,731 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. Four suspects were arrested for the crime. The Sheriff is calling it a hate crime. - May 12, 2007 - Roberto Duncanson was murdered in Brooklyn, New York. He was stabbed to death by Omar Willock, who claimed Duncanson had flirted with him.
- May 16, 2007 - Sean William Kennedy, 20, was walking to his car from Brew's Bar in Greenville, SC when Stephen Andrew Moller, 18, got out of another car and approached Kennedy. Investigators said that Moller made a comment about Kennedy's sexual orientation, and threw a fatal punch because he didn't like the other man's sexual preference.
- December 8, 2007 - 25-year-old gay man Nathaniel Salerno was attacked by four men on a Metro train in Washington, DC. The men called him "faggot" while they beat him.
- February 2008 - Duanna Johnson, a trans woman, was beaten by a police officer while she was held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Tennessee. Johnson said the officers reportedly called her a “faggot” and “he-she,” before and during the incident. In November 2008, she was found dead in the street, reportedly gunned down by three unknown individuals.
- February 12, 2008 - Lawrence "Larry" King, a 15-year-old junior highschool student was shot twice by a classmate at E.O. Green School in Oxnard, CaliforniaOxnard, CaliforniaOxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...
. He was taken off life support after doctors declared him brain deadBrain deathBrain death is the irreversible end of all brain activity due to total necrosis of the cerebral neurons following loss of brain oxygenation. It should not be confused with a persistent vegetative state...
on February 15. According to Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reports, "prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old classmate with premeditated murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements". - March 16, 2008 - Police say Lance Neve was beaten unconscious in Rochester, New YorkRochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
because Neve was gay. A man attacked Neve at a bar leaving him with a fractured skull, and a broken nose. Jesse Parsons was sentenced to more than five years in prison for the assault. - May 29, 2008 - Eighteen-year-old Steven Parrish—a member of the Young Swans subgroup of the Bloods—was murdered by Steven T. Hollis III and Juan L. Flythe in Baltimore County, MarylandBaltimore County, MarylandBaltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...
after they found "gay messages" on his cell phone. They felt having a gay member would make their gang appear weak and that by killing Parrish they could prevent that perception. - June 9, 2008 - Jeremy Waggoner, an openly gay hairstylist from Royal Oak, MichiganRoyal Oak, MichiganRoyal Oak is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 57,236. It should not be confused with Royal Oak Charter Township, a separate community located nearby....
, was brutally murdered in Detroit. His murder is still unsolved. - July 17, 2008 - Eighteen-year-old Angie ZapataAngie ZapataAngie Zapata was an American trans woman beaten to death in Greeley, Colorado. Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and committing a bias-motivated crime, because he killed her after he learned that she was transgender. The case was the first in the nation to get a conviction for a...
, a trans woman, was beaten to death in Colorado two days after meeting Allen Ray Andrade. The case was prosecuted as a hate crime, and Andrade was found guilty of first degree murder on April 22, 2009. - September 7, 2008 – Tony Randolph Hunter, 27, and his partner were attacked and beaten near a gay bar in Washington DC. Hunter later died from his injuries on September 18. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
- September 13, 2008 - 26-year-old Nima Daivari was attacked in Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
by a man who called him "faggot". The police that arrived on the scene refused to make a report of the attack. - September 15, 2008 – A Bourbonnais, IllinoisBourbonnais, IllinoisBourbonnais is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,256 at the 2000 census, but it was estimated to have grown to 19,119 in 2009...
elementary schoolElementary schoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
bus driverBus driverA bus driver, bus operator or omnibus driver is a person who drives buses professionally. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus stations or stops. They often drop off and pick up passengers on a predetermined route schedule. In British English a different term, coach drivers, is...
was charged with leading a homophobic attack on a 10-year-old student passenger. The boy was taunted by the driver who then encouraged other students to chase and beatAssaultIn law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
the child. - November 7, 2008 - The home of openly gay Melvin Whistlehunt in Newton, North CarolinaNewton, North CarolinaNewton is a city located in Catawba County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 12,560. It is the county seat of Catawba County.Newton is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area....
was destroyed by arsonists. Investigators found homophobic graffiti spray-painted on the back of the house. - November 14, 2008 - 22-year-old Lateisha Green, a trans woman, was shot and killed by Dwight DeLee in SyracuseSyracuse, New YorkSyracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, NY because he thought she was gay. Local news media reported the incident with her legal name, Moses "Teish" Cannon. DeLee was convicted of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime on July 17, 2009, and received the maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison. This was only the second time in the nation’s history that a person was prosecuted for a hate crime against a transgender person and the first hate crime conviction in New York state. - December 7, 2008 - Romel Sucuzhanya, a 31-year-old straight EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
ean and his brother Jose, were attacked on a BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
street for appearing to be gay and for being LatinoLatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
; they were walking arm-in-arm, which is normal for brothers in their culture. Romel later died from his injuries. - December 12, 2008 - A 28-year-old lesbian in Richmond, CaliforniaRichmond, CaliforniaRichmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
was kidnapped and gang raped by four men who made homophobic remarks during the attack. - December 27, 2008 - 24-year-old Nathan Runkle was brutally assaulted in Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
outside a gay nightclub. - February 15, 2009 - Efosa Agbontaen and Branden McGillvery-Dummett were attacked in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by four young men with glass bottles and box cutters who used anti-gay slurs during the attack. Agbontaen and McGillvery-Dummett both required emergency room treatment for their injuries. - February 18, 2009 - Two men were arrested in Stroudsburg, PA for the stabbing death of gay veteran Michael Goucher.
- March 1, 2009 - Three men entered Roberts Lafitte bar in Galveston, TexasGalveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
and attacked patrons with rocks. One of the victims, Marc Bosaw, was sent to the emergency room to have twelve staples in his head. - March 14, 2009 - A gay couple leaving a Britney Spears concert in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
were attacked by 15 teens. Josh Kehoe and Bobby Daniel Caldwell were called "faggots" and beaten. Caldwell suffered a broken jaw. - March 23, 2009 - Two gay men were attacked in Seaside, OregonSeaside, OregonSeaside is a city in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. The name Seaside is derived from Seaside House, a historic summer resort built in the 1870s by railroad magnate Ben Holladay. The city's population was 6,457 at the 2010 census.-History:...
and left lying unconscious on a local beach. The men regained consciousness and were treated at a nearby hospital. - April 6, 2009 - Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old child in Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, hanged himself with an extension cord after being bullied all school year by peers who said "he acted feminine" and was gay. - April 11, 2009 - A gay man in Gloucester, MassachusettsGloucester, MassachusettsGloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
was attacked and beaten by as many as six people outside a bar. Justin Goodwin, 36, of Salem suffered a shattered jaw, broken eye socket, broken nose and broken cheekbone. - June 30, 2009 - SeamanSeamanSeaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....
August Provost was found shot to death and his body burned at his guard post on Camp Pendleton. LGBT community leaders "citing military sources initially said that Provost’s death was a hate crime." Provost had been harassed because of his sexual orientation. Military leaders have since explained that "whatever the investigation concludes, the military’s “Don't ask, don't tellDon't ask, don't tell"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
” policy prevented Provost from seeking help." Family and friends believe he was murdered because he was openly gay (or bisexual according to some family and sources); the killer committed suicide a week later after admitting the murder, the Navy have not concluded if this was a hate crime.
2010–present
- October 3, 2010 - A 30-year-old male known as "la Reina" (the Queen), Bryan Almonte, 17, and Brian Cepeda, 17, were kidnapped by a group of youths calling themselves the Latin King Goonies, sodomozied by foreign objects including a plunger and baseball bat, burned with cigarettes, and tortured for hours. One of the teenage victims had wanted to join the gang the attackers were part of, but when members saw him with the 30-year-old, they later picked him up and took him to an abandoned apartment and asked him if the two had had sex. When the teenager responded positively, he was beaten and sodomized. The gang later picked up the second teenager whom they had also seen with the 30-year-old and repeated the process. They then lured the 30-year-old to the building with the promise of a party. When he arrived with alcohol, the gang tied him up and tortured him and made the 17-year-old burn him with cigarettes. They then robbed the man's 40-year-old brother, coaxing him by putting a cellphone to his ear so he could hear his brother beg to pay them.
- April 22, 2011 - Christy Lee Polis,McDonald's Employee Took Credit For Filming Brutal Beating In Baltimore Fast Food Joint | The Smoking Gun. Retrieved September 26, 2011. a 22-year-old transwoman, was beaten in a violent struggle by two African-American women for entering the women's bathroom in Baltimore County, Maryland. A McDonald's employee (who was later fired) filmed the encounter and released the film on the internet; it since went viralViral videoA viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
. The two women who initiated the attack may face hate crime charges in addition to assault.