Hate incidents against LGBTQ+ community on the rise in Texas, across the U.S.: Report

Hate incidents against the LGBTQ+ community are increasing across the country, including in Texas.

That’s according to a new report by GLAAD, one of the largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations in the country.

Data from GLAAD’s 2025 Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker desk shows that in Texas alone, there were over 60 incidents against members of the community. Those incidents include violent assaults, vandalism, and threats of mass shootings.

“We unfortunately found that there were more than 1,000 of these incidents, and in Texas specifically, we found that Texas was ranked third highest in the U.S.,” said GLAAD’s Sarah Moore. “It’s a snapshot of what LGBTQ people are going through, and not a total, you know, all-encompassing number. We know so many of these stories are not going reported, and if they are being reported, they might be uninvestigated, or they might be dismissed by local police departments.”

The report comes as Texas lawmakers advance policies that advocates said directly impact the LGBTQ+ community, like the so-called “bathroom bill,” which requires people in government buildings and schools to use certain facilities based on the sex they were assigned at birth, as well as the removal of rainbow and decorative crosswalks.

“This isn’t just, you know, something that people are putting into comment sections on Facebook. It’s not just something that we’re using to win political campaigns, but this type of rhetoric is having a very real impact on the lived experience of LGBTQ folks,” Moore said.

In Arlington, organizers of Arlington Pride cancelled this year’s celebration after the city council’s vote to revise the ordinance over concerns it could jeopardize federal funding. Critics said the new version strips away protections for the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups.

“There’s a very strategic political agenda out there to make people feel other,” said Deejay Johannessen, the CEO at the Help Center for LGBTQ+ Health. “It’s showing that they’re less than and people then act upon that because they’re taking the lead from the political leaders.”

Johannessen said while members of the LGBTQ+ community have long faced challenges, the current climate is especially difficult.

“We can have our differences, but everybody has the right to live their lives. and feel safe in their own community,” Johannessen said.

February 20, 2026 0

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have risen around the world since 2020: report

Read more at The Advocate.

Hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people are rising around the world as politicians target them through legislation and rhetoric.

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have increased in the past five years across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, according to a new report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, with transgender and gender nonconforming people particularly affected. The spike may in part be attributed to world governments passing anti-LGBTQ+ policies, which has “escalated internationally in tandem with political rhetoric.”

Some of the high profile incidents cited in the report include the mass shooting at the LGBTQ+ bar Club Q in Colorado that left five dead, the 2023 murder of a woman in California who was not LGBTQ+ because she flew a rainbow flag in her store, and the arrests of 20 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front in 2023 who intended to riot at a Pride event in Idaho.

“These threats come from across the spectrum of ideological extremism, but frequently from groups that also pose a threat to the state and are openly opposed to democratic norms,” the report notes.

In the U.S., hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people remained high despite an overall decrease in violent crime. Out of 11,323 single-bias incidents the FBI reported in 2024, 2,278 (17.2 percent) were based on sexual orientation and 527 (4.1 percent) were based on gender identity. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation were the third-largest category, with crimes based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry being first and religiously motivated crimes second. Gender identity bias was the fourth-largest category.

Threats and harassment against school board officials in the U.S. also increased by 170 percent from the previous year in November, 2024 to April, 2025, the ISD report notes. Many of these threats were explicitly motivated by an anti-LGBTQ+ bias, with the perpetrators objecting to age appropriate queer books or content in public schools.

“LGBTQ+ individuals, who gained unprecedented civil rights in previous decades, are now increasingly targeted by online and offline hate, political rhetoric, censorship and legislation,” the report states. “A series of actions have sought to exclude LGBTQ+ people and culture from public life, ranging from book bans to a spread of legislation restricting trans people. In tandem, terror attacks (or the threat of terror attacks), violent extremist activity, and hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ individuals have increased or remained consistently high since 2020.”

October 23, 2025 0

12 College Students Face Hate Crime Charges After “Targeted” Attack on Gay Man via Grindr

This blog is originally appeared at Them.

Law enforcement reviewed cell phone footage of the assault.

Maryland police have arrested 12 Salisbury University students accused of using Grindr to target and assault a gay man due to his sexuality in October.

According to a press release from the Salisbury Police Department (SPD), the assault took place at an off-campus apartment complex for college students. Local outlet WBOC reports that, based on charging documents, the victim was initially contacted on Grindr by an individual — later identified by police as 18-year-old Zachary Leinemann — who falsely claimed to be 16 years old, the legal age of consent in Maryland.

WBOC says that, per the police, Leinemann then lured the victim to the off-campus apartment complex on October 15 under the pretense of sex. The victim told police that upon arrival, he was ambushed by about 15 men and was forced to sit on a chair in the middle of the room while they kicked, punched, and spit on him for several minutes while calling him derogatory names.

CBS News reports that a video of the assault shows one of the suspects hitting a victim with a cookie sheet.

“Why are you getting up? Make one more move, and I swear I’m going to punch the **** out of you, bro,” one of the suspects yells in the video. “Get back! Lay down. Lay down. Lay down, or I’m going to punch the **** out of you!”

Although the victim allegedly attempted to leave multiple times, he was thrown to the floor and warned by his attackers to tell no one what had happened. After seeking medical attention, the victim discovered that he had a broken rib and sustained bruising all over his body as a result of the assault.

According to the Salisbury Police Department, seven of the 12 individuals are associated with Salisbury University’s chapter of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The students have been identified as 20-year-old Ryder Baker; 18-year-old Bennan Aird; 20-year-old Riley Brister; 19-year-old Cruz Cespedes; 20-year-old Dylan Earp; 19-year-old Elijah Johnson; and 18-year-old Zachary Leinemann.

Police identified the other five individuals involved as 18-year-old Cameron Guy; 19-year-old Jacob Howard; 21-year-old Eric Sinclair; 19-year-old Patrick Gutierrez; and 20-year-old Dylan Pietuszka.

The suspects have been charged with assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, and related hate crime offenses.

In a statement posted to Salisbury University’s X account, the school announced that the 12 students, along with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, have been placed on suspension. Meanwhile, Sigma Alpha Epsilon has expelled the members allegedly involved in the attack, according to CBS News.

In a separate statement, Salisbury University President Dr. Carolyn R. Lepre condemned the students’ actions, saying, “Acts of violence toward LGBTQ+ and Ally communities are not only destructive but at odds with the principles of community, respect, and belonging that bind us together as a university.”

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Anyone with additional information about the attack or similar incidents is urged to contact the Salisbury Police Department at 410-548-3165. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776.

November 14, 2024 0