New Report: Anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in Ohio increased 189%

New data shows a sharp increase in anti-LGBTQ+ incidents, both nationwide and in Ohio, as legislators in many states push laws hurting LGBTQ+ people. 

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, released a report on October 3 compiling anti-LGBTQ+ incidents for the past two years. Incidents were defined as “an act of harassment, threat(s), vandalism, and/or assault against an individual, group, and/or organization,” containing an explicit indication of anti-LGBTQ hate as a motivating factor.

From June 2022 to June 2024, the GLAAD tracked 70 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents that took place in Ohio. 

These included two cases of arson, two cases of assault, one bomb threat, 10 cases of vandalism, and 13 cases of harassment.

18 of the incidents took place from June 2022-2023, with the remaining 52 cases recorded from June 2023-2024: a 189% increase. 

“Especially given Ohio’s smaller population compared to states like Texas, Florida, New York and California, Ohio is definitely up there in the numbers,” Sarah Moore, senior manager of news and research at GLAAD, told The Buckeye Flame. 

The report also launched GLAAD’s ALERT Desk – Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker –  a central hub for data, resources and original reporting on hate and extremism impacting LGBTQ+ people in the U.S.

Key findings from the report:

• Since June 1, 2022, the ALERT Desk tracked over 1,850 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
• Incidents include 450+ protests, 330+ propaganda drops, 320+ acts of vandalism, 200+ bomb and mass shooting threats, 130+ assaults and 45+ cases of arson, resulting in 161 injuries and 21 deaths.
• From June 2022 – 2023, GLAAD documented 524 incidents. From June 2023 – 2024, GLAAD tracked 1,109 incidents – a 112% increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate.
• Hate targeting transgender and gender-non-conforming people motivated over 30% of all anti-LGBTQ+ incidents since June 2022 (567 out of 1,850).
• The ALERT Desk also tracked 140+ incidents targeting health care providers of transgender and gender-non-conforming patients since June 2022. This coincides with 26 states having passed bans on this life-saving care, including Ohio.

“While we’re seeing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from politicians increasing and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation increasing, we’re also seeing anti-LGBTQ+ incidents increasing corresponding to those trends,” Moore said.

Moore also highlights that these more heavily populated states tend to have more clearly defined reporting mechanisms for reporting anti-LGBTQ+ incidents. In Ohio, only 597 of 862 law enforcement agencies (less than 70%) report hate crime data.

“There are so many cases of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents that go unreported or under-investigated,” said Moore. 

One of those incidents became national news when a church in Chesterland, Ohio, was fire-bombed in advance of hosting a Drag Story Hour.

Moore said this incident was a stark example of what is being seen across the country: a perpetrator associated with an extremist neo-Nazi group shouting a familiar refrain. 

“They specifically cited a lot of the tropes that are being used as justification for anti-LGBTQ+ incidents around protecting the kids and needing to save the kids from things like drag shows,” Moore said.

Use the Data

GLAAD is hoping that by providing this data, key stakeholders will be emboldened to create change. 

“It could be that policymakers use the data to advocate for things like a hate crimes statute that is fully LGBTQ-inclusive,” Moore said. “Or it could be that local LGBTQ+ nonprofits use the data to make a request for a local security grant program.”

Moore also highlighted that some states could use the data to create legislation that protects the LGBTQ+ community, which would represent a different direction than the Republican supermajority in the Ohio legislature has taken recently. The current legislative session has included a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a ban on trans female athletes in kindergarten through college and proposed bills to restrict bathroom access, ban drag in public and force school personnel to out LGBTQ+ youth to their families. 

GLAAD also recommends that individuals report incidents to the ALERT Desk. A GLAAD team works to ensure the validity and accuracy of all incidents, including cross-referencing sources, removing attempts at trolling/spam and maintaining good data hygiene.

Many anti-LGBTQ+ incidents go unreported due to fears of retaliation and forced outing, fraught relationships with law enforcement and media coverage that fails to recognize the importance of accurately reporting on LGBTQ+ identities.

 “The ALERT Desk seeks to challenge these narratives by providing a dedicated space for these stories, so that we can take the first steps towards recognizing and combating anti-LGBTQ+ hate in the US,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, executive director of GLAAD.  🔥

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IGNITE ACTION

• Visit the GLAAD Alert Desk here for resources and reporting on hate and extremism impacting LGBTQ+ individuals.