46 States, Thousands of Employees—What Should Companies Know?
In the United States, there is currently a nationwide legislative assault on the human rights of those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) community. The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on the US criminal justice system, reported in March 2023 that new FBI data shows hate crimes towards the LGBTQ+ community increased 70 percent between 2020 and 2021. This statistic could be higher, but many states do not include sexual orientation or gender identity in their definition of a hate crime. This means hate-based incidents in these states are not counted as hate crimes unless reported directly to a federal agency. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there are 16 states that do not include potential LGBTQ+ hate crimes in their reporting structures.
