CA: LA County Sees 20% Increase in Hate Crimes Against LGBT Community

Los Angeles County saw an overall 4% drop in hate crimes last year, while crimes against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people increased, prompted in part by last November's highly charged Proposition 8 initiative, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in California, according to a report released Thursday. There were 134 sexual-orientation hate crimes reported last year, up from 111 in 2007, and were more likely to be violent than hate crimes motivated by race or religion, according to the annual Hate Crime Report by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations. "I am very sad to be here today because my presence means that my community -- lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people -- were horribly impacted by hate crimes in 2008," Lorri Jean, chief executive of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, said at a news conference. Full Story from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hate-crimes20-2009nov20,0,1767226.story

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