Sen. Charles Schumer
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has called for increased funding for Department of Justice programs that prevent hate crimes and discrimination after new FBI data showed hate crimes against the LGBT community is on the rise.
“All Americans — regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or race — should be kept safe from discrimination and hate and violence,” Schumer said.
According to the FBI, of the 6,727 victims of hate crimes reported by federal law enforcement agencies in 2014, 18.7 percent of victims of single-bias crimes — or 1, 248 people — were targeted because of their sexual orientation and 1.6 percent of victims of single-bias crimes — 109 people — were targeted because of their gender identity.
Schumer noted that the actual numbers are much larger, because hate crimes often go unreported “and those that are reported are often not classified as hate crimes.”
In Oak Lawn, of the dozens of attacks on gay men that have occurred since last summer, only two of them have been classified as hate crimes and will be reported to the FBI that way.
