The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs ( NCAVP ) released a report on hate violence against LGBTQ communities in the United States as of 2009. In a press conference, Crystal Middlestadt of the Colorado Anti-Violence Program highlighted three key findings. "Murders are at the highest rate in a decade," she said. "Twenty-two victims of hate murders were reported to NCAVP in 2009. This reflects an unchecked and ongoing pattern of severe and persistent violence against LGBTQ communities."
"Second, there was a spike of anti-LGBTQ violence at the time of the federal hate-crimes law passage," said Middlestadt. "In 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. hate crimes prevention act into law." Another key finding was the negative impact of the economic crisis on resources available for LGBTQ survivors of violence.
The NCAVP is a coalition of 40 anti-violence organizations that "monitors, responds to and works to end hate, domestic and sexual violence, HIV-related violence and other forms of violence affecting LGBTQ communities," according to a press release.
Lisa Gilmore, director of education and victim advocacy at the Center on Halsted Anti-Violence Project in Chicago, was also part of the call. "While the total number of reported incidents of hate violence have declined slightly in 2009," she said, "we believe that this is actually a decrease in reporting, not a decrease in actual violence." The decrease in reporting is attributed to the ongoing fiscal crisis the United States has been experiencing, which has depleted resources for assistance and programming for LGBTQ hate violence survivors.
She added, "Ten of the 15 programs that participated in this report responded to a survey on the impact of the financial crisis and five of those programs lost staff positions due to funding cuts between 2007 and 2009." On average, around 56 percent of staff were eliminated, according to Gilmore.
The federal hate-crimes law brought attention to the LGBTQ community and caused a spike in hate violence against LGBTQ people, which historically occurs during May, June or July because of the attention brought by pride events. "As LGBTQ people are moving towards fuller equality and more visibility," said Gilmore," fear of violence can sometimes impede people making choices to be visible."
The report includes several recommendations for the prevention of hate violence on all levels of organizing, politics and the justice system. "One of our key recommendations is that state and federal governments and criminal legal systems need to support our anti-violence programs at the local and national level by ceasing cutbacks and releasing funding for prevention, education and data collection," said Gilmore. "A really important part of this work is that these larger institutions need to end any discriminatory practices that they participate in that actually promote LGBTQ hate violence."
Mabel, a survivor of hate violence from Denver, Colo., told her personal story during the press conference. A 27-year-old who identifies as gender-queer, Mabel was riding her bike home when she was jumped by a group young men. After being beaten, Mabel called the police to report her injuries and have them pursue her attackers. Mabel said that the police disrespected and discriminated her;. However, the police questioned the validity of Mabel's story about the attack and physically forced her to ride in an ambulance. Because she did not have health insurance, Mabel sought out the police report in order to try to receive survivor support and assistance. Mabel then discovered the two cops never filed the report.
The Center on Halsted, with the Anti-Violence Project ( AVP ) , provides crisis counseling, legal advocacy services, information and referrals to survivors of violence and discrimination. In the report, the Center on Halsted AVP reported 79 survivors or victims of hate violence in 2009 down from those reported in 2008 at 108 survivors or victims. The center also reported 65 incidents in 2009, down from 125 in 2008. The number of offenders also went down, from 94 in 2008 to 65 in 2009.
For the full report, visit the Anti-Violence Project website at www.avp.org . The AVP 24-hour crisis line is 773-871-2273 and non-emergency calls can be directed to Lisa Gilmore from the Center on Halsted at 773-472-6469, ext. 224.
