Sexual orientation bias hate crimes up 18% from 2011 to 2012, according to TBI report

The annual Tennessee Bureau of Investigation hate crime report is out.  This report compiles data for hate crimes committed in 2012.  The results are disturbing.

First, the statistics still don't include information about crimes based on gender identity, crimes targeting transgender people.  The Tennessee hate crimes law includes sexual orientation, but it does not include gender identity.  However, the federal crimes law includes both sexual orientation and gender identity.

Second, overall hate crimes for all bias-motivated offenses taken together (race, religion, sexuality, etc.) are up 70.4% from 2011 to 2012.

Third, bias-motivated hate crimes based on sexual orientation went from 39 in 2011 to 46 in 2012--an increase of almost 18%.

Here's the breakdown:

11 crimes targeting gay men
5 crimes targeting lesbians
25 crimes targeting gays and lesbians (and presumably bisexuals)
4 crimes targeting heterosexuals*
1 crime targeting bisexuals

*Yes, bias-motivated crimes can affect the majority community.  Sexual orientation is a general category.  Everyone has a sexual orientation.  It may surprise many people to see anti-straight hate crimes included, but I'm glad the information is part of the report because it shows that including the category of sexual orientation is really about making everyone safer, not just the minority communities, although that would be an important goal in itself.

As I noted, the results are very disturbing.  We all need to continue to address the rhetoric of bias around issues of race, ethnicity, religion, sex/gender, sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity in Tennessee. 

Hate crimes based on sexual orientation go down in 2009

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's crime statistics, hate crimes based on sexual orientation went down in Tennessee in 2009 vs the previous year. There were 52 sexual bias crimes in 2009 vs 60 in 2008.

Nevertheless, there were incidents in Nashville. The Tennessean describes two:

"In March, a man walking downtown on Second Avenue was confronted by a man who asked if he was gay. When he responded that he was gay, the other man punched him in the mouth. The victim required stitches."

and...

"In December, a man walking near Second Avenue North and Commerce Street with his friends was called an anti-gay slur, punched and tossed to the ground. He was treated for a dislocated elbow."

Overall, the report is good news. The report is a reminder that areas that are becoming more tolerant such as Nashville still have work to do in reducing the number of bias related incidents.

The report does not cover crimes based on gender identity unless it is now putting such crimes in with the category gender. The federal hate crimes law was signed in 2009 which covers both sexual orientation and gender identity, so hopefully the 2010 report that comes out next year will have a full breakdown of statistics. The lack of specific reporting is another reason to pass the Richardson/Marrero bill in the Legislature that would add gender identity and expression to the state hate crimes statute.

TEP calls on Dr. Ron Kirkland to apologize for his joke and to support repeal of DADT

For background on the story you can go to this story in the Jackson Sun. To contact the Kirkland campaign, go to the form on his campaign website.

Note: We had to shoot the video quickly because of the tornado watch and floods, so sorry about being a bit rushed.

Hate crime report alarming

A hat tip to Mr. Kleinheider for making us aware of the TBI's 2008 Hate Crime Report.

As we have noted before, this document does not include bias offenses based on gender identity or expression. So the Duanna Johnson case is likely not included in the figures, but the report does include crimes based on "sexual bias."

The reports findings are truly disturbing. In 2006 and 2007, there were 54 sexual bias hate crimes. In 2008 that number jumped to 61, which is an increase of 13%. 25 of the incidents were directed at gay men, 15 directed at lesbians, 18 directed at gays and lesbians (perhaps an attack on a group of people), 1 directed at a straight person, and 2 directed at bisexual persons (p. 5). The victims of sexual bias crimes were young in 2008. 20 of them were between the ages of 18 and 24. 26 of the incidents occurred on a Friday or a Saturday, which makes me think attacks at bars make up a large part of the number.

In 2008 hate crimes took place against gays and lesbians in the following jurisdictions: Anderson County, Cleveland, Collierville, Covington, Dickson, Elizabethton, Franklin, Gordonsville, Hamilton County, Humboldt, Huntland, Johnson City, Knoxville, Lawrenceburg, Memphis, Milan, Millington, Morristown, Oak Ridge, Red Bank, Shelby County, Soddy Daisy, Sparta, Vanderbilt University, Warren County, and Washington County (p. 17).

Not only is this problem clearly on the rise in Tennessee, but it affects rural and urban areas in all three Grand Divisions of our State. Passing the Matthew Shepard Act at the federal level and Rep. Jeanne Richardson and Sen. Beverly Marrero's bill at the state level would help increase the safety of more people in Tennessee.

Man dead after beating outside Johnson City bar

Drawing on Tri-Cities news sources, Out & About Newspaper is reporting that a man has died after being beaten outside New Beginnings, a Johnson City gay bar.

So far, there is no suspect in the death of James Lewis. If you have information about this crime, please, contact the Johnson City Police at 423-434-6166 or anonymously at 423-434-6158.

The incident has already come to the attention of national GLBT blogs.

Update: PFLAG with the news of an arrest made.

Bill Moyers looks at Knoxville Church shooting

Sorry to say, but I missed the Bill Moyers Journal take on the tragic July shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. The Church's minister, the Rev. Chris Buice, is featured on the program. The discussion focused on the role of talk radio in the degeneration of America's political discourse.

JEFFREY FELDMAN: Our system is a deliberative democracy. And that deliberative democracy depends on a certain kind of talk, a certain conversation in order to function well. What right-wing rhetoric does, when it reaches that violent pitch, is it undermines that particular conversation, such that the focus of political debate, becomes increasingly hamstrung by fear, and the ability of citizens to engage in the basic act of civics becomes gummed up. That conversation breaks down.

RICK KARR: Knoxville pastor Chris Buice agrees.

REVEREND CHRIS BUICE: When you blame all your problems on some minority group then everyone else is exonerated. We exonerate ourselves. We don't have to look at ourselves to see what sort of ways we contribute to the problems of the world. We don't have to examine ourselves, to see what we are doing that is helping to create the problems that we're so concerned about.

More reactions to the Knoxville Church Shooting

The responses to the shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church continue to roll in.

Out & About Newspaper features this moving account by Carla Lewis of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, who was present during the shooting. Pam's House Blend, a national GLBT blog based in North Carolina, analyzed the media's lack of clarity on what exactly is liberal or progressive about the congregation and reads the hints of an anti-gay motive. Mr. Kleinheider finds links to comments about the tragedy made by First Lady Laura Bush as she was visiting Nashville.

A Knoxville activist asked and received when he wrote Mayor Bill Haslam about acknowledging Knoxville's GLBT community. Haslam wasn't the only elected official to comment. Governor Phil Bredesen issued this statement:

Our prayers are with those who have been affected by this horrible event. We extend our sympathies to the families who lost loved ones and hope those who were injured make a full and quick recovery," Bredesen said.

Targeting the Liberal Movement and Gays

Jim David Adkisson was targeting the liberal movement in his attack on Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, according to a letter he wrote explaining his motives. It should also be noted that he was having trouble finding a job and recently learned that his food stamps were being cut. WBIR reports that Knoxville Police Chief Owen says that the shooter...

targeted Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church due to "recent publicity" the church had received regarding its "liberal stance" on things.

A sign recently went up at the Church indicating its welcome of the GLBT community.

We'll continue to follow the story.

Update: This headline on a North Carolina paper's story is the first I've seen that indicates hatred of gay people is a motivation.

Update: The Knoxville News Sentinel is now adding gays as Adkisson's targets.

Update: The statement of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition

Update on Knoxville Church shooting

A possible motive for the horrible shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church has emerged. A neighbor reports that Adkisson had problems with Christianity. If that is the case, it is terrifying that people might have been targeted for their religious beliefs. A second person has now died from this attack.

Many people across the state are devasted as they try to come to terms with what has happened.

Church shooting in Knoxville leaves several injured

A friend in Knoxville contacted me about a shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church this morning. Several have been injured. There aren't many details yet.

This congregation hosts the Spectrum Cafe, which is a welcoming place for GLBT youth. Please, keep the members of this congregation in your thoughts and prayers.

Update: WBIR has several details and a time line of events.

Update 2: The Knoxville News Sentinel story linked above has been updated and reports that Greg McKendry has died from wounds he received when he interposed his body between the shooter and other parishioners. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The Gospel according to St. John 15:13

Update 3: Out & About Newspaper provides additional information on the ways in which the congregation has been supportive of the GLBT community.

Update 4: The FBI is involved in case the matter turns out to be a hate crime. One parishioner notes that the gunman was yelling "hateful things." (I had seen a report that a second person has died. It is no longer posted. Will try to find out more.)

Update 5: The Knoxville News Sentinel has acknowledged the conflicting information about a second victim and released the name of the shooter as Jim D. Adkisson of Powell. The online story is also the first in the mainstream media to acknowledge the congregation's outreach to the GLBT community. They mention in connection with officers being dispatched to other congregations for security.

[Knoxville Police Chief Sterling] Owen said when authorities learned of the shooting, police officers were sent to other churches to provide security.

"We've gone to some in the county and in other counties as well," Owen said. He declined to identify the churches targeted for additional security, however, the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was a strong proponent of gay rights in the community.

Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern was stopped before she entered the capitol yesterday. Why? She had a loaded handgun in her purse. She is the one who famously exclaimed that homosexuality is as serious a threat as terrorism and Islam.

Quite disturbingly, she had received death threats after her remarks were made public. There was another incident in June in which she was found with a gun in the capitol. I have no doubt that she fears for her life.

Events like this one make me realize that "culture war" is not merely an image for some people. That death threats have become part of the debate over social issues is completely disgusting.

I find myself as sick of words like bigot, extremist, and so forth that are used to characterize the Right as I am of all the dehumanizing ways the GLBT community is characterized in the discourse of those who oppose us.

In the end, the individuals who make death threats and those who perpetrate hate crimes are responsible for their actions. Arguing about whether our political discourse causes particular acts of violence is a little like trying to determine whether violence in movies makes people do terrible things. It's a pretty foggy enterprise.

But what is clear to me is that the religious discourse on the Right and the secular discourse of progress on the Left have not yet been successful in tempering the feelings and language of violence. I don't even know if we can borrow a religious word like "redemptive" and give it a nonsectarian meaning and apply it to the ways we talk about those with whom we are locked in disagreement.

But the fact that there have been threats against an Oklahoma representative and the fact that the GLBT community continues to suffer violence means we're not trying very hard at persuasion. Right now, persuasion sounds pretty redemptive.