ABSTRACT

Hate crimes against LGBT community members can have long-term ramifications for individual health and well-being. These hate crimes manifest themselves in verbal or physical attacks in public locations, or can invade their homes through licit or illicit intimate relationships. Varying and sometimes unique types of hate crimes are experienced by each of the different LGBT groups, from the financial manipulation of wealthy gay men, to street harassment of lesbian women, to transgender women being beaten to death by marauding groups on the street. Despite the severity of hate crimes on an individual’s well-being, the LGBT community has experienced strong progress toward social equality throughout the past few decades. Sound public policy can be an important tool in the elimination of hate crime by examining its implications on the different types of hate crimes and homicides experienced within the LGBT community.