M E D I A   R E L E A S E





For Immediate Release

April 28, 2004

2003 Edition of Report on Anti-LGBT Hate Violence Released
8% Annual Increase in Anti-Gay Hate Is Overshadowed by
26% Increase for Period Following Sodomy Decision and Marriage Debate

New York Today, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released its annual report on violence against lesbians, gay men, bisexual people and transgender individuals. The 90-page report examines data compiled from over 2,000 hate-related incidents in eleven cities, states and regions across the country: Chicago, Cleveland, Colorado, Columbus, OH, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York City, Pennsylvania and San Francisco. Additional information was received from Kansas City, MO, and Vermont. The report was also released in a number of the locations profiled in this year's edition.

NCAVP's report is the most complete examination of such violence against LGBT people. Each year, the FBI publishes its own report on hate crimes, which includes anti-LGBT incidents, but it consistently contains information on far fewer cases than the NCAVP publication because it relies on law enforcement reports of such crimes rather than victim service organization data.

Overall, NCAVP's report noted an 8% increase in reported incidents of anti-LGBT violence. Included in that 8% increase for the year, was an 80% increase in anti-LGBT murders, which rose in the reporting locations from 10 in 2002 to 18 in 2003. At the same time, the total number of victims rose 9%, from 2,183 in 2002 to 2,384 in 2003. Of the eleven locations included in the report, seven reported increases. And in what the report's authors noted as a significant departure from previous editions of the report, the number of offenders rose 18%, from 2,793 to 3,282.

"For the past several years the number of people perpetrating anti-LGBT violence decreased, and 2003 marked the reversal of that trend; unfortunately, we have begun to lose ground," said Clarence Patton, NCAVP's Acting Executive Director.

The report also makes an in-depth exploration of the connections between the rise in anti-LGBT violence – particularly in the last half of 2003 when compared to the same period in the previous year and the greatly increased visibility of and controversy surrounding the LGBT community during the year. "In the first half of the year, the increase in anti-LGBT violence was 3% centered in five locations. However, from July to December, that increase had jumped to 26% and spread to include two additional regions," continued Patton.

Additional information in the report notes a possible "Eye of the Storm" effect for locations at the center of LGBT controversy or attention that involves a temporary depression of anti-LGBT violence during the height of that attention followed by a spike after the spotlight has moved. For instance, while Massachusetts showed an overall decrease of 38% in incidents for the year, and a 36% decrease for the year's second half, that decline slowed to 9% over the same period in the previous year as anti-LGBT violence in that state began to creep up in the final quarter of 2003 as attention moved from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decisions specifically, to the broader discussion of same-sex marriage as a national issue. Preliminary information from San Francisco for the first quarter of 2004 hints at a similar depression in anti-LGBT incidents while that city was at the center of the same-sex marriage debate when its Mayor instructed municipal employees to begin marrying same-sex couples.

PDF versions of the Report and its Executive Summary are available at www.avp.org. For additional or regional contact information, call 212-714-1184, x55.


The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) addresses the pervasive problem of violence committed against and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV-positive communities. NCAVP is a coalition of programs that document and advocate for victims of anti-LGBT and anti-HIV/AIDS violence/harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, police misconduct and other forms of victimization. NCAVP is dedicated to creating a national response to the violence plaguing these communities. Further, NCAVP supports existing anti-violence organizations and emerging local programs in their efforts to document and prevent such violence.