Hate Crimes Against Gays Down Locally

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people increased nationally but decreased in the Bay Area in 2003, according to a survey released Wednesday by a San Francisco anti-violence organization.

Officials from the 20-year-old Community United Against Violence organization, created the report in collaboration with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a network of 27 organizations.

The report found that nationally, there were 2,051 reported incidents in 2003, up eight percent from the 1,903 anti-LGBT incidents reported in 2002.

And while the LGBT hate crimes in the Bay Area decreased seven percent last year, from 357 in 2002 to 317 in 2003, the number of hate-related murders increased from two to six, organization officials reported.