More than 2,400 anti-LGBTQ hate crimes were reported in 2024, according to data from the FBI’s newly-released Hate Crime Statistics Report.
The FBI reports that there were 2,413 single-bias incidents specifically targeting LGBTQ people. Of those incidents, 81% targeted people for their real or perceived sexual orientation and 19% for their real or perceived gender identity.
Notably, the 2024 sexual-orientation category includes 25 cases in which heterosexual people were allegedly victims of bias-motivated crimes.
According to the FBI, crimes targeting sexual orientation made up 17.2% of all reported hate crimes in 2024, the third most common bias category. Race and ethnicity accounted for 51.8%, religion for 24.6%, and gender identity for 4.1%.
The FBI reports that nationwide hate crimes reached their second-highest level since Congress began tracking anti-bias incidents in 1990. Breaking down the statistics by the identity of the victims, Black and Jewish Americans were the most frequently targeted groups, followed by LGBTQ people.
Within the LGBTQ category, gay men were the most targeted by bias-motivated crimes. But the number of anti-gay incidents was so high that gay men specifically were the third most likely identity group to be victimized — ranking ahead of white or Hispanic people who were targeted for their race or ethnicity.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program includes only incidents reported to law enforcement that meet strict hate-crime criteria. Many anti-LGBTQ incidents may go unreported or be classified differently, meaning the actual numbers are likely higher, according to The Pride, a Los Angeles-based LGBTQ newspaper.
The Pride notes that actions such as online harassment, doxing, or distributing propaganda flyers often are not counted in hate crime totals. Advocates add that many LGBTQ victims avoid reporting crimes due to fears of retaliation, forced outing, or negative interactions with police.
Sarah Moore, head of GLAAD’s ALERT Desk, which tracks hate and extremism targeting LGBTQ people in the U.S., called the sheer number of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes “appalling” and said that combating such crimes would require “immediate action.”
“FBI hate crime statistics are vital to understand how the federal government tracks and combats bias-motivated crimes — but these numbers will never tell the full story,” Moore said in a statement. “We must continue to hear and uplift the voices of local LGBTQ leaders and our community partners to mitigate violence against all communities. Together, we can push back on hate for good.”
GLAAD’s ALERT Desk documented 932 anti-LGBTQ incidents in 2024, averaging 2.5 per day, with more than half targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming people. The group links the increase to rising anti-transgender rhetoric and legislation at both federal and state levels.
“[A]nti-equality politicians continue to spread lies about LGBTQ+ people, trying to push us out of more and more corners of society,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “Those smears come with a cost. The FBI has exposed a chilling reality: our community remains a target of violence — and that is unacceptable.”
Robinson said the hate crime data “has revealed a national emergency hiding in plain sight.”
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Justice Department had demanded Boston Children's Hospital hand over patients' and employees' personal information under the guise of combating medical "fraud."
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice demanding that Boston Children’s Hospital turn over private medical information on youth receiving gender-affirming care, blasting the request as a “fishing expedition” aimed at prosecuting doctors under the guise of investigating health care fraud.
In his ruling, Judge Myong Joun, a Biden appointee, said the Justice Department sought an “astonishingly broad array of documents and information that are virtually unlimited in scope,” including patients’ Social Security numbers, home addresses, and personal details, as well as the complete personnel files of all 2,000 Boston Children’s Hospital employees, regardless of whether they had any involvement in providing gender-affirming care to minors.
Gun rights groups are blasting the Trump administration after CNN reported that senior Justice Department officials have been discussing the possibility of restricting transgender U.S. citizens from owning firearms, following the recent mass shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis. Although officials described the talks as "preliminary," critics warn that even floating such a proposal scapegoats transgender people and threatens their constitutional rights.
The internal talks appeared to draw on a theory promoted by conservative influencers and media outlets: that transgender people are mentally ill, and that transition-related hormones negatively affect mental health, making them more prone to violence.
Boston police are investigating a possible hate crime after a gay couple was attacked while walking in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood on September 13, leaving one man with a head injury.
According to a police report, the couple had been heading to a convenience store on River Street just before 8 p.m. when a group of men began hurling anti-gay remarks at them.
One of the men confronted the group, sparking a "verbal dispute" that escalated into a physical attack on the couple, according to Boston.com.
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