Violence Against the LGBTQ Community

Members of the LGBTQ community have suffered through a particularly ugly form of bias for decades—many have been the victims of violent acts. In the 1990s the brutal murder of a gay man, Matthew Shepard, brought attention to the violence faced by LGBTQ individuals. Since then, lawmakers and prosecutors have stepped up efforts to bring perpetrators to justice; nevertheless, violence against the LGBTQ community continues to persist in American society.