REPORT: Groundbreaking Analysis of Hate Crime Laws

July 28, 2021

With a rise in hate violence across the country, a new report from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and 16 leading civil rights organizations provides a groundbreaking analysis of state and federal hate crime laws. The report features a foreword by Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard and Board/Chair President of the Matthew Shephard Foundation. Read the report here.

The report provides a comprehensive look at both the opportunities and limitations of hate crime laws as a means of preventing and addressing hate violence. While responding to hate violence is imperative, the report finds that hate crime laws across the country are inconsistent and provide complex and incomplete methods of addressing hate violence. This analysis comes amid a spike in hate crimes in recent years–and as the country is examining racial justice and racial bias in our criminal justice system.

“We’re proud to partner on this report that details the patchwork landscape of hate crimes laws and names some of the ways they often fail to address community needs for accountability, justice, and safety. As the report clearly demonstrates, these laws tend to have a disproportionate impact on already marginalized populations in the way they interact with a flawed carceral system. Equality Federation will continue to work with policymakers, allies, and communities to find meaningful, equitable responses to hate violence targeting LGBTQ people, especially those LGBTQ people at the intersection of multiple axes of identity-based oppression.” – Fran Hutchins, Executive Director

Read the full report here.

More You might like

Press Release: Equality Federation Reacts to 2024 Election Results

Equality Federation responds to the results of the November 5, 2024, Presidential election and many Congressional, Senate, state, and local election results.

September 6, 2024
Elections 2024: A Rainbow Wave?

As of today, Equality Federation has finalized $240,000 in seed grants for our partners' electoral work. Many groups have been using these grants to leverage more funding. However, members still report that they need to raise $6M to contact every voter we need to win. Help us move more resources quickly to states with the greatest needs.

September 6, 2024
Reflecting on Leadership Conference 2024

We held our largest Leadership Conference to date, with 360+ attendees from across the country coming together to build relationships and learn from one another. 

September 6, 2024
A young man looking up, smilingA young man smiling straight at the camera
Confident young woman standing with crossed arms.

Want To Make A Difference? Support Our Work

With your support, we'll be able to continue our work to build the leaders of today and tomorrow, strengthen state-based LGBTQ+ organizations, and make critical progress on the issues that matter most—like protecting transgender people, ending HIV criminalization and ensuring access to care, and banning conversion therapy across the country.