GLBT Victims

Sometimes, crime victims who are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender often times have different needs and face different challenges when reporting a crime of seeking assistance.   We provide information specifically geared toward assisting this portion of the community.

Hate Crimes 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV-positive (LGBTH) people are frequently the victims of acts that are motivated by prejudice and bias against them.  Tennessee's Hate Crime Law does include sexual orientation is the hate crime law. 

What is a Hate Crime

When a crime is a "hate crime", the victim is intentionally selected because of his or her race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. A number of federal and state laws prohibit acts or threats of violence, as well as harassment and discrimination, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender and/or disability. Some laws also include political affiliation, and age, though federal and state laws vary greatly.  A crime is classified as bias-motivated (or a hate crime) when it is clear that the offender's criminal actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by bias.

LAMBDA GLBT Community Services takes hate crimes and other anti-LGBTH incidents very seriously. LAMBDA works together with law enforcement, judicial, and victim services agencies to eliminate and respond to such incidents.

Reporting hate-related incidents and domestic violence helps survivors take advantage of recovery services and enables our community to build up statistics and patterns of crime, providing an opportunity of catching offenders or prevent the violence altogether. Hate crime statutes are designed to send the message that hate-motivated crimes, because they are often attempts to silence and instill fear into entire groups, will not be tolerated.

Why should I report anti-LGBTH incidents?

When such incidents are invisible, it is harder to protect against them. Careful documentation and statistics are very important tools in fighting such oppression and bigotry. 

After an incident, help is often available -- even if you wish to remain completely anonymous or choose not to report to the police. When we fail to report to law enforcement authorities or prosecute the offenders, we become passive victims that are at an even greater risk for future victimization. 

And put quite simply, if you don't report it, we can't help. 

What to do following an incident

If you have been victimized in a hate crime or hate incident here are some suggestions for things you should immediately do:

• In an emergency, dial 911, 0, or the emergency number in your area.
• Get medical attention for any injuries.
• Call the police as soon after the incident as possible. You may be eligible for financial compensation for damages.
• Get the responding officer's name and badge number.
• Write down all details of the crime as quickly as possible after the reporting.
• If you saw the perpetrator(s), try to remember gender, age, height, race, weight, build, clothes and other distinguishing characteristics. If anything was said, such as anti-gay epithets or threats, make a mental note about them.
• Carefully preserve any evidence, such as notes, clothing, graffiti, tape recordings, fingerprints, etc. Take photographs of any injuries and of the location where the incident occurred.
• If you want the crime to be reported as a hate/bias crime, tell the officer to note that on the report.
• Make sure the officer files an incident report form and assigns a case number.
• If the police do not assist you properly, file a complaint and call LAMBDA immediately.
• If a police report is not taken at the time of your report, go to the police station and ask for one. Always get your own copy.
• Contact your local GLBT community center, P-FLAG, the Hate-Crime Network, or the Hate Crime National Hotline (800.686.HATE) for assistance & information -- even if you choose not to contact the police.  Contact your District Attorney's office or police department's victim services unit.
• LAMBDA's Anti-Violence Project can provide you with referrals to local anti-violence and victim advocates in your area.
• To complete a report online, click here.

 

Domestic Violence

 

Concerned about your relationship?

• Are you afraid of your partner?

• Does your partner try to control what you do and who you see?

• Has your partner ever threatened to harm you or your family?

• Has your partner ever hit you or thrown things at you?

• Have you ever been forced to have sex, or unprotected sex?

• Does your partner threaten to "out" you or have you deported?

If you answered "yes" - even once - your partner may be abusive.

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What you can do:

• Talk with somebody you trust - a friend, relative, someone from work, your house of worship, or a health care practitioner.
   

• Remember everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Don't let your partner control or mistreat you. Help is available.
   

• At some time you may find yourself in trouble, so be prepared and put together an "emergency kit" of things you would really need if you had to leave suddenly.

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Sample emergency kit:

Money - store some cash in a secret place where you can easily get to it. Be sure to include some coins for phone calls.

Keys - an extra set if keys should be kept in a safe place (at a friend's or neighbor's) in case you need to leave quickly.

Important papers for you and your children - birth certificates, passports, health insurance documents, photo ID/driver's license, immunization records, checkbook, medication, food stamps, social security cards, etc. (or copies of  them) should be kept in a safe place.

Basic items - keep a small bag with your medicines, copies of your legal papers, an extra pair of glasses, and a set of clothes.

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For help:

• If it's an emergency, call 911 for assistance.

• If it's not an emergency, you still have the right to file a police report. Call your local police department to have a police officer sent out to you or go into any police station to make a report.

• Contact your local Anti-Violence Project or the GLBT Hate Crime Hotline: 

  • e-mail: AVP@lambda.org

  • voice: 208.246.2292

• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 

• voice: 800.799.SAFE
• TTY: 800.787.3224

For more information go to Lambda.org

Information provided by lambda.org

Resource Center

 Confronting Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men

Gay & Lesbian National Hotline

1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)

Hate Crime Law Map

The National Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in dozens of cities across the United States and Canada.

Learn More...

Raising Our Voices: Queer Asian Women's Response to Relationship Violence

 

• Only heterosexual women get battered.  Men are never victims of domestic violence and women do not abuse.
• Domestic violence is more common in heterosexual relationships that it is in lesbian or gay male relationships.
• It isn't really violence when a same-sex couple fights.  It is just a lover's quarrel and a fair fight between equals.
• It isn't really violence at all when gay mean fight is just boys being boys.
• The batterer will always be butch, bigger an stronger.  The victim will always be femme, smaller and weaker.
• People who are abusive under the influence of drugs or alcohol are not responsible for their actions.
• Gay men's domestic violence has increased as a result of alcoholism, drug abuse and the AIDS epidemic.
• Lesbian and gay domestic violence is sexual behavior, a version of sadomasochism.  the victims actually like it.
• The law does not and will not protect victims of lesbian and gay men's domestic violence.
• Lesbian and gay male victims exaggerate the violence that happens to them.  If it were really that bad, they could and would just leave.
• It is easier for lesbian or gay victims of domestic violence to leave the abuser than it is for heterosexual battered women.
• Domestic violence primarily occurs among gay mean and lesbians who hang out at bars, are poor or are people of color.
• Victims often provoke the violence done to them.  They are getting what they deserve.
• Lesbian or gay male victims of domestic violence are co-dependent.

Domestic Violence Laws Map

         Cycle of Violence Theory