Group: Gay bias killings highest since 1999

national advocacy group says the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people killed in bias-motivated incidents increased by 28 percent in 2008 compared to 2007.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released its report Tuesday. It says last year’s 29 killings is the highest it has recorded since 1999. It documented the same number of slayings then.

The New York-based coalition says the overall number of victims who reported anti-LGBT violence in 2008 increased by 2 percent.

The coalition says its figures are more accurate than those from law enforcement agencies. As an example, the group says the FBI doesn’t record bias crimes against transgender people because gender identity isn’t covered by federal hate-crime law.

See Group: Gay bias killings highest since 1999 Houston Chronicle

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LGBT Domestic Violence Services Bill Passes State Assembly

Bill Sponsored by EQCA and Authored by Assemblymember Pérez Now Moves to Senate

Sacramento – The California State Assembly passed the LGBT Domestic Violence Services Bill along party lines, with all 44 Democrats present voting in favor while all 17 votes against were cast by Republicans. Sponsored by Equality California (EQCA), the bill, AB 1003, will increase and expand services to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) survivors of domestic violence.

“By passing this bill, we are expanding innovative and proven program models already being pioneered by LGBT centers and organizations across the state,” said Assemblymember John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), the author of the bill. “Now more people will have greater access to the services they need – in a safe, comfortable environment.”

Rates of domestic violence in same-sex relationships are equivalent to those in opposite-sex relationships. However, support for LGBT survivors continues to lag far behind those available to non-LGBT couples.

“We must do all in our power to ensure that LGBT survivors of domestic violence have access to culturally competent services and resources,” Geoff Kors, executive director of EQCA. “EQCA is extremely grateful to Assemblymember Pérez for his leadership on this important issue and thank the California Assembly for helping move us one step closer to making this goal a reality.”

The LGBT Domestic Violence Services Bill is designed to correct this inequity by expanding access for LGBT service providers to a state fund within the California Emergency Management Agency, which supports LGBT-specific domestic violence programs across the state. The fund, originally established as part of another EQCA-sponsored bill in 2006, is subsidized by a $23 fee on domestic partner registrations. The new bill also eliminates the requirement for providers to offer shelter – an impediment to many smaller LGBT organizations that inadvertently keeps several California communities from providing any services for LGBT survivors of domestic violence. The bill previously passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a vote of 5-2.

More information about EQCA’s other current legislation can be found at www.eqca.org/legislation.

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In Wake of Prop 8, Attack on gay woman in Richmond reflects continuing trend

RICHMOND — News this week of arrests in the Dec. 13 gang rape of a lesbian brought relief to many in the community, some of whom were so outraged that they led police to breaks in the case.

But even as the resolution is lauded, gay-rights advocates and local and national crime statistics portray a gloomy truth about hate crimes against people based on their sexual orientation.

Until the root causes of bias toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are addressed, “we’ll continue to have hate perpetrated against us,” said Shawna Virago, a program director for the San Francisco-based advocacy group Community United Against Violence.

The group reported 304 crimes against Bay Area gays in 2007, the latest year for which complete statistics were available. That amounted to an approximate 6 percent increase from 2006.

Nationally, the FBI recorded 1,265 crimes deemed to have been motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation in 2007, a slight increase from the 1,195 tallied a year earlier but a 24 percent jump from 2005 figures.

Data compiled by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs — which counts the San Francisco group among its members — show national numbers to be considerably higher, from 1,486 incidents in 2006 to 1,833 the following year.

See Attack on gay woman in Richmond reflects continuing trend
San Jose Mercury News,