LGBT hate crimes are acts of violence or intimidation directed at individuals based on their sexual preferences or gender expression. These crimes can be physical or non-physical and harm not only the victim but also entire groups of people. Most jurisdictions have hate crime laws that impose harsher sentences for these crimes.
When hate crimes are directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) victims, they are referred to as LGBT hate crimes. These criminal actions are directed at victims due to bias against a person’s sexual preferences or gender expression. These types of crimes can range from those involving words and intimidation to those involving physical violence. Many people have even died as a result of LGBT hate crimes.
LGBT hate crimes are typically initiated because a person or group of people feels prejudiced against homosexual, bisexual, or transgender people. These crimes typically have nothing to do with the actual victim. Instead, they are based on the author’s view of this group of people and his contempt for them. Sometimes this type of crime is even committed against a person who is not actually a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person. Instead, some people commit these crimes based on the way a person speaks, acts or looks rather than actual knowledge of their preferences or sexual orientation.
Sometimes LGBT hate crimes are not physical in nature. For example, an individual may be harassed, threatened or intimidated because he or she is gay or bisexual. In other cases, the offenses may involve property. For example, a person may rob or vandalize another’s property because she is transgender. It is important to keep in mind, however, that these crimes harm the victim, despite the fact that they do not involve bodily harm.
Unfortunately, LGBT hate crimes involve physical violence in many cases. For example, they may involve physical beatings, torture, or attempts to disfigure. Sometimes they are sexual in nature and involve sexual assault, harassment, or rape. In some cases, LGBT hate crimes go as far as to include attempted murder or murder.
One thing that makes LGBT hate crimes unique is the victim. Obviously the first victim is a person against whom the crime was committed. These crimes, however, often serve to victimize entire groups of people. They send a message that people fitting the LGBT description are not welcome and should fear for their safety. In fact, reading or hearing about these types of crimes makes some people fear showing affection to their partners in public or behaving in ways that are stereotypically homosexual.
Most jurisdictions have hate crime laws. A person convicted of an LGBT hate crime can face a fine, prison sentence, or both. Often, a person faces a more severe sentence due to the hate aspect of the crime of her. For example, if he is convicted of attempted murder as a hate crime, he may face a harsher sentence than if he was convicted of attempted murder alone.
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