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A new Facebook group, Heterosexual Awareness Month, is touting a new claim, that “nearly 80% of hate crimes are committed against heterosexual people.” The claim is entirely unsubstantiated, and the Facebook group, which The New Civil Rights Movement began profiling yesterday, is small, but growing quickly.
Claiming there is a “straight bashing outbreak,” the charge doesn’t even mention LGBTQ people — and doesn’t have to.
And many victims of hate crimes are heterosexuals — since many hate crimes are against people based on their religion, or their ethnicity. So, that “straight bashing outbreak” is being committed mostly by, straight people.
And if this claim were true, since LGBT people are an estimated four percent of the population, this would mean we’re five times more likely to be victims of hate crimes. Of course, this group’s numbers are undocumented, so the entire exercise is a farce.
And, of course, few if any take this group seriously, but it is an opportunity for the virulently anti-gay to feel anchored in their homophobia and hate.
Juvenile. Cowardly. Disgusting. But this exists, and it is a catalyst for hate to grow.