National 2005 Lesbian and Gay Hate Crime Report Released; 4 Murders in KC Metro

Written by Doug Riley
Monday, 08 May 2006

Kansas City, MO – The Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP), Kansas City’s only nonprofit organization solely dedicated to providing emergency and advocacy to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and bias crimes in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, is included in the 2005 version of the anti-LGBT violence report published by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP). The report shows continued overall decreases in the number of reported incidents (-13%), Such incidents fell from 2,270 in 2004 to 1,985 in 2005. Included the decline in incidents for the year was a 15% decrease in anti-LGBT murders in reporting regions; such murders fell from 13 in 2004 to 11 in 2005. During 2005, the total number of victims also fell 12%, from 2,617 in 2004 to 2,301 in 2005.

KCAVP documented 23 anti-LGBT incidents in 2005 which is 3 less than 2004. KCAVP also documented four deaths, two of which were clearly LGBT murders. Narratives to all four murders are included in the report.

“Even though we documented a slightly lower number, the fact is the violence is still happening.” said Doug Riley, executive director of the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project. “The fact that four people were brutally murdered due to LGBT violence in the Kansas City metro area is chilling and scary. Violence is still happening, and, given the conservative climate in both Missouri and Kansas most people do not feel safe reporting incidents of bias. This is why KCAVP is here—to provide that safe place. Our community must be vigilant on the streets and in the legislatures so that not one more life is lost.”

“This year’s report can be viewed as an indication that after almost two years of wholesale attack on LGBT individuals, communities and families, 2005 offered a respite of sorts for our community's experience with hate violence,” said Clarence Patton, NCAVP leader and executive director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. “In the last two editions of this report was all too clear that with respect to violence, the nation's LGBT communities had entered a very new, and very dangerous era in which all of us were under attack at levels not seen in recent years," continued Patton.

"However, no one working with the victims of anti-LGBT violence believes that 2005 presents a permanent condition for our community. The fact is that LGBT people are once again slated to be "on the ballot" again in a number of states in the 2006 election season and Senator Frist (the Senate Majority Leader) plans to take action on the Federal Marriage Amendment in early June, setting off another round of political bashing of our community that will no doubt be accompanied by the cultural and physical bashing we experienced across the country in 2003 and 2004," concluded Patton.

The report can be found at the KCAVP Reports Section and at http://www.ncavp.org/.

KCAVP is a Missouri nonprofit corporation committed to providing services, advocacy and education for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and bias crimes within the eight counties that encompass the metropolitan Kansas City area. For more information about KCAVP, visit www.kcavp.org.

NCAVP is a coalition of over 25 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victim advocacy and documentation programs located throughout the United States. In cooperation with its member organizations, NCAVP is committed to addressing the pervasive problem of violence committed against and within the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive (LGBTH) communities. For more information about NCAVP, visit www.ncavp.org.