While the number of reported hate crimes and the overall number of violent crimes in the U.S. decreased last year, advocates say the number of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ Americans remains troublingly high.On Tuesday, August 5, the FBI released its annual report on crime statistics in the U.S., which showed that violent crime decreased by about 4.5% last year compared to 2023. Similarly, reported hate crimes were down by about 1.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Related HRC blames anti-LGBTQ+ politicians for national rise in hate crimes Hate crimes against us are not yet showing signs of subsiding, the Human Rights Campaign noted despite greater acceptance of queer people generally. That slight decrease, however, follows a record number of hate crimes reported in 2023. As Axios notes, the 2024 total is the second-highest since the FBI began tracking data on hate crimes.Similarly, reported incidents of hate crimes based on sexual orientation bias and gender identity bias only saw a slight drop in 2024. Of the 11,323 incidents of single-bias motivated crimes reported last year, 17.2% (1,950) were motivated by sexual-orientation bias. Thats down just under 1 percent from 2023. The drop in incidents motivated solely by gender identity bias was even less, from 492 (4.3%) reported in 2023 to 463 (4.1%) in 2024. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Of the 2,278 single-bias hate crime offenses based on sexual orientation reported last year, over half (51.8%) were classified as involving anti-gay male bias. While the overall number of sexual orientation-based hate crime offenses was down slightly from 2023s total of 2,402, the number of offenses involving anti-gay male bias was up from 49 percent in 2023.Offenses based on gender identity dropped only slightly as well, from 547 reported in 2023 to 527 in 2024. The number of anti-transgender offenses decreased from 401 to 382, while the number of offenses targeting gender-nonconforming people remained about the same. The 2024 numbers are based on data collected from 16,419 law enforcement agencies that participated in the FBIs Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Programs Hate Crime Statistics Data Collection. Of those agencies, only 19 percent reported incidents of hate crimes occurring in their jurisdictions in 2024. But as anti-violence advocates have long noted, police departments often significantly undercount the number of hate crimes due to bias or underreporting by queer people who may distrust law enforcement.Responding to the 2024 report on Tuesday, HRC President Kelley Robinson said the FBIs data reveals a national emergency hiding in plain sight, and laid the blame for the continued prevalence of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes at the feet of the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers across the country.Everyone deserves to be safe in this country and have the chance to thrive. But anti-equality politicians continue to spread lies about LGBTQ+ people, trying to push us out of more and more corners of society, Robinson said in a statement. Those smears come with a cost. The FBI has exposed a chilling reality: our community remains a target of violence and that is unacceptable. LGBTQ+ people, just like everyone else, should be free to live our lives, pursue our careers and education, build our homes and pursue our American Dreams, without the threat of violence hanging over our heads. This FBI data is clear: we need more support from our political leaders, not animosity and attacks that seek to demonize us.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.