A three-fold spike in homophobic hate crimes in Santa Clara County over the past year is being blamed on the fallout over Proposition 8, the voter measure than banned same-sex marriage in California.
More than half the hate crimes reported in the county south of San Francisco were directed at the LGBT community. Last year, 56 percent of hate crimes were designated as homophobic. The year before, it was 15 percent.
“My belief from having done this work for many years is that surges in types of hate incidents are linked to the headlines and controversies of the day,” Deputy District Attorney Jay Boyarsky told The Mercury News.
Boyarsky monitors hate crimes for the District Attorney’s office. “Marriage equality and Proposition 8 have been in the news, and we have seen an increase in gay-bashing,” he told the paper.
No comments:
Post a Comment