Rising Hostility, Rising Harm: Violent Victimization of LGBTQ People Over Time

Queer criminologists have increasingly drawn on the trifecta of violence framework, emphasizing the interconnected relationships among structural, cultural, and interpersonal violence through ideology, law and policy, and action. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, we find that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ) individuals experience significantly higher levels of violence than non-LGBTQ individuals. Moreover, violence has increased over time, with disproportionately high increases among LGBTQ people in particular. These increases, however, occurred at similar rates among sexual and gender minorities. We interpret these findings within the broader context of intensifying anti-LGBTQ ideologies and the expansion of anti-LGBTQ laws and policies. In doing so, we highlight the importance of structural and ideological conditions in shaping contemporary patterns of violence against LGBTQ populations, helping to account for the persistent disparity in victimization between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people.