Lgbtq criminal stats
Visualizing the unequal treatment of LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system
LGBTQ people are overrepresented at every stage of our criminal justice system, from juvenile justice to parole.
by Alexi Jones, Pride 2, 2021
The data is clear: lesbian, gay, attracted to both genders, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ 1) people are overrepresented at every stage of criminal justice system, starting with juvenile justice system involvement. They are arrested, incarcerated, and subjected to community supervision at significantly higher rates than unbent and cisgender people. This is especially true for trans people and homosexual women. And while incarcerated, LGBTQ individuals are subject to particularly inhumane conditions and treatment.
For this briefing, we’ve compiled the existing research on LGBTQ involvement and experiences with the criminal justice system, and – where the data did not yet exist – analyzed a recent national data fix to fill in the gaps. (Namely, we provide the only national estimates for lesbian, gay, or bisexual arrest rates and community supervision rates that we know of.) We present the findings for each stage of the criminal justice system with availab
A national report commissioned by the MacArthur Foundation and released in June found that people who identify as lesbian, male lover, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex are overrepresented in the U.S. criminal legal system.
In fact, LGBTQ+ people are more than twice as likely to be arrested compared to unbent people and three times more likely to be incarcerated than the general population. Those statistics are worse for LGBTQ+ people of color.
Jane Hereth, UWM assistant professor of social welfare, conducted a review of existing research and compiled the report as part of the foundation’s initiative to support criminal justice reform.
In addition to tracking arrests and incarceration rates, she also documented discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals within the system, and found that it showed up at every stage, from arrest through sentencing, and also in the inmate’s prison experience.
Here, Hereth talks about how Gay people are often overlooked in criminal justice reform and why the disparity hits younger people hardest.
Why are LGBTQ+ people disproportionately at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system?
There are a number of contributing fac
Anti-LGBT Victimization in the Combined States
LGBT people experienced a higher rate of thoughtful violence, defined as rape or sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated assault, than non-LGBT people (53.7 vs. 8.5 per 1,000),including higher rates of violence involving a weapon (27.4 vs. 5.7 per 1,000)and stern violence resulting in injuries (21.3 vs. 2.4 per 22 LGBT people were also more likely to experience violent hate crimes (6.4 vs. 0.7 per 1,000).
Conclusion
Consistent with prior findings, our results show that compared with non-LGBT people, LGBT people have been subject to disparities in exposure to violence, including hate crimes.LGBT victims of violence are also more likely than non-LGBT people to experience attacks that are more violent and to suffer injuries because of these attacks. The curtailment and elimination of civil rights protections for LGBT people in the United States puts them at risk for increased victimization and hate crimes.
Methodology
The NCVS uses a stratified, multi-stage cluster sample of households in the Combined States that surveys individuals aged 12 years and older.The purpose of the NCVS is to document the prevalence and characteristics of viol
Hate crimes, particularly against LGBTQ community, on the rise: FBI data
Hate crimes motivated by gender-identity and sexual orientation rose from 2022 to 2023, according to FBI data, sparking concern among LGBTQ advocates about the potential impact of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation.
"Today's abysmal FBI report highlights that it is still dangerous to be LGBTQ+ in this country,” said Brian K. Bond, CEO of LGBTQ activism group PFLAG National. “Our LGBTQ+ loved ones need both our compassion and our action to make our communities safe and our laws inclusive, so every LGBTQ+ person can be guarded, celebrated, affirmed and loved everywhere in the U.S.”
Though vicious crime is down about 3% overall from 2022 to 2023, hate crimes are up across the U.S., according to the FBI's statistics.
Sexual orientation and gender identity were the third and fourth most prevalent bias motivation in 2023, behind race/ethnicity and religion.
The FBI counted 2,936 incidents related to sexual-orientation and gender-identity bias in 2023 – up roughly 8.6% from about 2,700 in 2022.
Sexual orientation, excluding heterosexuality, was the motivation for 2,389 incidents in 2023 –
LGBT people five times more likely than non-LGBT people to be victims of violent crime
A recent report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds LGBT people in the U.S. are five times more likely to experience stormy victimization than non-LGBT people.
LGBT victims of violence are also more likely than non-LGBT people to face serious violence—such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated assault—and to suffer injuries because of these attacks.
Researchers analyzed pooled statistics from the 2022 and 2023 National Crime Victimization Survey, a nationally model sample that documents experiences of victimization.
Results show LGBT people experienced 106.4 victimizations per 1,000 people, compared to 21.1 victimizations per 1,000 people for non-LGBT people. Transgender people experienced victimization at a rate of 93.7 per 1,000 people.
In addition, LGBT people (6.4 per 1,000 people) were nine times more likely to exposure violent hate crimes than non-LGBT people (0.7 per 1,000).
“The Trump administration’s curtailment of civil rights protections for LGBT people in the United States, and the escalating anti-LGBT, and in particular anti-transgender, action