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Since the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, hate crimes and hate crime legislation, at both the federal and state level, has been seen as a major battleground for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

What is a Hate Crime? Hate crimes are violent acts against people, property or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with. Statistical data collected over the past several years is yielding broader perspectives on real or perceived differences to race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

Hate crimes send a threatening message to whole communities through use of fear and intimidation. The key difference between hate crimes and other crimes is that the offender is motivated by the victim's personal characteristics. All violent crimes are reprehensible. But the damage done by hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of physical injury or dollars and cents. Hate crimes are more than just an attack on the individual, these crimes are an attack on entire group of people.

Federal Hate Crime Laws: The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act — hate crimes legislation pending in Congress — broadens the legal definition. It describes a "hate crime" as a violent act causing death or bodily injury "because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability" of the victim. Current federal law does not include sexual orientation, gender or disability.

Statistics show that nearly 75,000 hate crimes have been reported to the FBI since 1991, with 9,730 incidents reported in 2001, the FBI's most recent reporting period. Only race-based and religion-based prejudice crimes were more prevalent than hate crimes based on sexual orientation. The more startling unknown fact may be the number of hate crimes that go unreported.

Hate Crime Laws in Georgia: No provision of Georgia state law explicitly addresses violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity. There was a state law that specified, “it is the right of every person to be secure and protected from fear, intimidation, and physical harm caused by the activities of violent groups and individuals." However, this law was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2004. Botts v. State, 278 Ga. 538 (Ga. 2004).

Resources for Hate Crimes

Reporting Hate Crimes

Lambda Legal

ACLU of Georgia

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