According to a joint report by GLAAD and the Anti-Defamation League, hate crimes and anti-LGBTQ+ extremism incidents were triple the amount during the 2023 Pride season compared to 2022. GLAAD and ADL found that this June, there were 145 reported incidents, compared to 48 in 2022, which is a 67% increase. A majority of the incidents,102, were classified as harassment.
The joint report said, “despite record high support for LGBTQ people in the US, there remain those who seek to disrupt, ban, and even attack expressions of queer joy.”
Assaults accounted for six hate crimes, including the murder of Akira Ross, 24, in Cedar Park, Texas. Bradley Stanford, 23, was charged with one count of first-degree murder after police said the two had a confrontation that included homophobic slurs shouted by Stanford before he shot Ross three times.
There were several incidents where LGBTQ+ monuments and property were destroyed or damaged, including anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti sprayed on a church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Even New York City’s Stonewall National Monument was not immune to expressions of hate. Pride flags were ripped down and damaged multiple times over a week.
New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher’s office was targeted with messages linked with QANON at the start of Pride month, which he reported and shared on his Instagram account.
An incident that caught national attention occurred June 18 in Concord, New Hampshire, where a dozen members of the National Social Club protested a drag show by giving Nazi salutes and banging on the establishment’s windows.
Before these recently released numbers, GLAAD and ADL compiled incident reports from June 2022 to April 2023. During those 10 months, 356 incidents were reported nationwide, with Florida, Texas, California and New York leading with the most incidents. These numbers include the Nov. 19 massacre at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado where five people were murdered and 25 were injured.