Marriage Amendment Opponents Expect Hate Crimes to Rise
As Gays seek rights the sense of Christian victim hood and entitlement is growing among fundamentalists and extremists in the US, so every LGBT person needs to be aware and cautious through November. Its not unusual for hate attacks of all types to increase in the lead ups to elections. Take precautions but otherwise carry on as normal; stand tall by reporting and speaking out against hate when you see it.
With nearly 100 days to go before the November election, opponents of a marriage amendment are warning people hate crimes will likely go up in the coming months.
“We are seeing an increase already. We know that we are in the final hundred days of the campaign, and we have seen physical assaults. We have seen slurs,” said Rebecca Waggoner with OutFront Minnesota.
Waggoner said the local trend follows a national one in states that have previously considered marriage amendments. Waggoner says reports to local advocacy organizations and police departments suggest hate crimes based on sexual orientation went up by as much as 47 percent in the 13 states that considered a marriage initiative in 2004.
According to statistics from the FBI, hate crimes based on sexual orientation in California and Florida did go up in 2008 - the year those states voted on the definition of marriage. Hate crimes went down slightly in Arizona in 2008, which also had the marriage issue on the ballot.
Waggoner said her organization is reaching out to people - asking them to take precautions, but they’re also hoping for a more sweeping cultural change.