Antigay Hate Crimes Increased in 2008

Statistics released Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that hate crimes based on sexual orientation in the United States increased by 11% in 2008 over the previous year.

The annual FBI data revealed that a total of 7,783 incidents involving 9,691 victims of hate crimes were reported last year, with hate crimes based on sexual orientation showing the largest increase. It was the third year in a row that hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose.

According to the blog Think Progress, the 1,706 victims in the sexual orientation category break down as follows: 57.5% were victims of an offender's anti-male-homosexual bias; 27.3% were victims because of an antihomosexual bias; 11.6% were victims because of an anti-female-homosexual bias; 2% were victims because of an antiheterosexual bias; and 1.6% were victims because of an antibisexual bias.

Last month President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The legislation, among its other powers, will enable the FBI to begin collecting data on hate crimes motivated by gender and gender identity.