Crimes Against Gays on Rise, Report Says

The number of reported hate crimes against gays and lesbians in Los Angeles rose 22% last year, according to the country’s leading gay services agency.

The increase--from 163 incidents to 199--was consistent with a nationwide rise in such crimes, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute.

Members of the task force, based in Washington, said the increase may be partly attributed to increased efforts to document hate crimes. But, they add, the statistics and accounts from victims also reflect an actual increase in hate crimes against homosexuals, including harassment, vandalism, assault and police abuse.

Based on surveys conducted in several cities and college campuses, more than 85% of crimes against gays and lesbians go unreported, said Kevin Berrill, director of the institute’s Anti-Violence Project. The cities featured in the report recorded an average 42% increase in hate crimes in 1990, for a total of 1,588 incidents. In addition to Los Angeles, the cities were New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Los Angeles ranked fourth for number of incidents.

“In painstaking detail, this report makes real the magnitude and terrible consequences of this crisis,” Berrill said.

Some victims have not turned to law enforcement agencies for protection because of perceived discrimination in the handling of crimes against gays and lesbians, the report indicates. In some instances, victims had not publicly declared their sexuality, and therefore chose not to report an attack.

“How can we expect hate crimes against gay and lesbian people to stop when public institutions openly and unabashedly discriminate against us?” asked Torie Osborn, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Los Angeles.

The center has worked with law enforcement officers to sensitize them to gay and lesbian issues.

Volunteers have led training sessions at the Police Academy and in police and county sheriff’s divisions that have high concentrations of gay and lesbian residents, said David Smith, spokesman for the center.

“Most of the calls we get come from the West Hollywood and Silver Lake area--the majority say they are reluctant to go to the police because of the perceived bigotry that exists,” Smith said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Dolan, a liaison to the gay community, said the West Hollywood sheriff’s division has worked with community groups to educate deputies on gay and lesbian issues.

“Because of the number of gay people here and the kind of area it is, hate crimes are investigated with extreme priority,” he said.