However, in one place, possibly not highly suspect, crime against the LGBT community dropped sharply.  That place is Dallas, Texas.

According to the Dallas Voice:

Violent crime was down 23 percent last year in a 1-square-mile area that encompasses Dallas’ largest gay entertainment district, according to statistics from the Dallas Police Department.

The statistics from DPD show that the number of violent offenses recorded in the area known as the Cedar Springs-Wycliff Target Area Action Grid dropped from 220 in 2009 to 169 in 2010.

More here!

Two men were arrested in the early Sunday beating, which came little more than a day after a group of male friends bidding an affectionate good night to each other were attacked in another anti-gay assault elsewhere in Manhattan, prosecutors said.

The attacks came amid heightened attention to anti-gay bullying following a string of suicides attributed to it last month, including a New Jersey college student’s Sept. 22 plunge off the George Washington Bridge after his sexual encounter with a man in his dorm room was secretly streamed online.

More here!

According to a post on Steve Charing OUTSpoken:

Visiting Vancouver for three days seemed like a nice respite from the crime-dominated reports we read in our local newspaper or see on TV. Yet, imagine the surprise I felt when the Vancouver LGBT newspaper Xtra! told of the second gay bashing there in a three-week period.

More here!

This comes amid an outcry into the lack of speedy investigation and calling the brutal beating of two men with baseball bats no less, during a robbery and the four suspects yelling anti-gay slurs, a hate crime. According to published reports it took investigators more than 48 hours to classify the May 15  Oak Lawn area  attack as a hate crime.

Read more of this story where it came from: Focus On The Rainbow – Opine!

After being caught these two wimpy pussies told police they were being harassed by a gay man and wanted to get away from him. Really ? So why didn’t they walk away from the mean old faggot ? Not to mention striking the victim while his back was turned, now that’s a real brave he-man act. Wonder how many Iraqis he shot in the back ?

More by Lyndon Evans at: Focus on the Rainbow!

According to a post at The B.L.O.G. Expression:

Sadly crimes against the gay and lesbian community aren’t new. Even sadder is the fact that sometimes those who are supposed to protect and serve, the City’s finest are often the ones whom target gays. Recently at Chi Chiz, a gay bar frequented by Blacks and Hispanics located in the area of NYC called “The Village” was targeted by an undercover policeman. The police it seems, are trying to shut down the establishment. The reason? So called drug dealing by the patrons. I have often been to Chi Chiz and over the 11 or so years since it has been open, I have never been approached, nor seen anyone dealing drugs. I can’t say that drugs have never been sold there, I can only state that I’ve never seen it in all my years going there. Still for an undercover cop to have allegedly stated “ This fag establishment needs to be closed down” seems more of a case of homophobia then drug dealing.

Read more of this GREAT post here!

On Oct. 28, President Obama signed a bill setting penalties for violent crimes motivated by the victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. The bill joins existing federal law banning hate crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin.

The new bill allows federal law enforcement to help local officials with criminal investigations of hate crimes — and to conduct its own investigations where local officials can’t or won’t.

Representatives of the local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community are pleased with the federal law, which has been a Democratic legislative priority for more than 10 years.

“We here in South Carolina are thrilled that this law has passed,” says Ryan Wilson, president of SC Pride, a Columbia-based gay rights organization.

More at: Free Times!

This legislation, sought by gay and lesbian and other civil rights groups for more than 10 years, enlarges the definition of federal hate crimes to include those committed based on sexual orientation, gender or disability.

We, who are vulnerable because of who we love or our bodily differences, applaud these protections.

The bill is named in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student who was beaten and murdered in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was dragged to his death in Texas in the same year. The legislation strengthens already existing hate crimes protections, dating back as far as 1968. The new law also allows the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of hate crimes motivated by bias against the victim’s disability, gender or sexuality.

More at: Baltimore Sun!

The bill makes it a federal crime to assault someone based on a person’s race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or mental or physical disability.

Right wing groups of all stripes have opposed the measure for years. They fear that the law would be used to prosecute anyone who believes and teaches that homosexuality is wrong. There is even an Arab group that called it a Jewish conspiracy against Arab values. Other groups call it the “Pedophile Protection Act” claiming that pedophile will become a protected group.

More at: Today in The Gay News!

After lecturing me on DOMA, he went on to say that, “When the issue of same-sex marriage has come before me in Congress, I have supported amending the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman. Marriage has played a foundational role in our nation and in civilization throughout history. It is our most basic social institution, and it should be protected by law and not left subject to the whims of a particular court.” – Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID)

More at: Life and Times of a Gay Guy!