Gay Bashing is Up and So Is Church Anti-Gay Rhetoric

- July 17, Dallas Tex. Jimmy Lee Dean is beaten in an anti-gay assault by two men not far from his home. His injuries were so severe that he was in intensive care and could not be interviewed or identified until July 22. The suspect is not currently being charged with a hate crime.

365Gay.com (New York City) The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs said Tuesday that the number of violent crimes against LGBT people is up significantly in 2008. The coalition supports local LGBT organizations in their work to end violence.

Since the February murder of 15 year-old Lawrence King and the brutal beating of Duanna Johnson, there have been at least 13 brutal and violent LGBT hate crimes throughout the country. The organization added that the reported crimes only may be a small number of the total, since many LGBT people are reluctant to go to police, and many of the attacks that are reported are not listed by authorities as hate crimes.

One sign at a gay pride march:

Out and Proud
If you have a problem with it
Phone the Samaritans!