Impact of Hate Crime on LGBT+ People

94% of LGBT+ people surveyed were negatively impacted by their experience of homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, acephobic and interphobic abuse and violence.

Only 1 in 3 LGBT+ victims surveyed who needed support – of any form – were able to access it after being targeted for who they are.

Consequences are wide-ranging and can include:

• Physical injuries
• Psychological trauma (stress, anxiety, PTSD)
• Emotional impact (anger, self-blame, fear of being open about one’s identity)
• Financial costs (damaged property, moving home, missing work)

Here are some examples of how these impacts might look in an anti-LGBT+ hate crime experience:

• Economic impact: A non-binary student is attacked on the bus on the way to university. They are traumatised by this and can no longer use public transport so they have to pay for taxis to get places. They begin to miss lectures and seminars because of this.
• Physical impact: A lesbian woman is attacked by a man after refusing to kiss her partner in front of him. This results in mobility problems which limit her ability to play football. This is a big loss of support, social connection, and exercise from her life.
• Emotional impact: A trans woman has her personal information shared on social media by her cousin, along with trans hate speech. A few days later her car is graffitied. She feels constantly under attack so she stops going to LGBT+ community spaces and has trouble leaving the house.
• Mental health impact: A bi man rejects his most recent Grindr date. His date then shouts racist slurs at him and texts him threatening messages for several weeks after this. He feels ashamed because of the context and becomes increasingly anxious about meeting new people. He begins to isolate himself.
• Community impact: A person realises that 3 of their friends have recently experienced hate crime targeting their transgender identity. This person decides to suppress their gender expression, and hide their gender identity at work for fear of being targeted themselves. This impacts their mental and emotional well-being greatly.

Hate-motivated abuse tends to have more profound and enduring effects than other types of crime, because it attacks the core of someone’s identity.