Gay men and lesbians are far more
likely to be targeted for hate crimes than any other minority group
in the United States, a new study finds.
The
results of the study by the Southern Poverty Law Center were
published Monday in the group's quarterly Intelligence
Report.
“As Americans become more accepting
of homosexuals, the most extreme elements of the anti-gay movement
are digging in their heels and continuing to defame gays and lesbians
with falsehoods that grow more incendiary by the day,” Mark Potok
editor of the Intelligence Report, said in a statement. “The
leaders of this movement may deny it, but it seems clear that their
demonization of homosexuals plays a role in fomenting the violence,
hatred and bullying we're seeing.”
The report's findings are based on FBI
hate crime statistics from 1995 to 2008. The study concluded that
gay men and lesbians, or those perceived to be gay, are more than
twice as likely to be attacked in a violent hate crime as Jews or
blacks; more than four times as likely as Muslims, and 14 times as
likely as Latinos.
Monday's report coincides with the
release of the FBI's hate crime statistics for 2009.