Background Information on Hate Crimes
Laws and Legislation in Your State
- Find out if your state outlaws hate crimes based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
- This fact sheet lays out FBI data on hate crimes based on sexual orientation and illustrates the increase in hate-motivated violence from 1991 to 2002. For detailed statistics, go to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports page and scroll down to "Hate Crimes Statistics."
- Covering polls from 1998 to 2000, this document shows that the U.S. public supports hate crimes legislation.
A Chronology of Hate Crimes: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
- This document details over 650 accounts of hate-related violence. It begins with the slaying of James Byrd Jr., which captured national attention in 1998.
- This HRC report covers incidents of anti-gay hate-motivated violence from 1990 to 2000.