The 2008 Hate Crime Report from the L.A. County
Commission on Human Relations.
(Photo by: Kim Nowacki)

The number of overall hate crimes in L.A. County went down, but hate crimes related to sexual orientation spiked in 2008.

While race remains the main motivation for hate crimes in Los Angeles County, hate crimes based on sexual orientation jumped 21 percent in 2008 compared to 2007. Homophobic attacks are also the most likely to be violent, as compared to vandalism and intimidation tied to hate.

Those numbers come from the 2008 Hate Crime Report released Thursday by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, which has tracked hate crimes in the county since 1980.

"It's horrifying. When it comes to attacking a gay or lesbian person or a transgender person, the violence goes off the charts," Lorri Jean, chief executive officer for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, said after a mid-morning news conference.

To compile and analyze the reported annual hate crimes -- which officials say are always far less than the actual number of committed hate crimes -- the commission works with multiple sheriff and city police agencies, schools and community-based organizations.

The good news for 2008, said the commission's executive director Robin Toma, is that overall reported hate crimes are down 4 percent from 2007, dropping slightly from 763 to 729 in a county with a population of more than nine million people. But that still translates to about two hate crimes a day. 

The report found that in 2008 compared to 2007:

• Hate crimes based on race, ethnicity or nation of origin went down from 535 to 452, but continue to be the most common type (61 percent). Blacks remain the most targeted group (61 percent), followed by Latinos (27 percent).
• Hate crimes between blacks and Latinos are "disturbingly high." Blacks were targeted by Latinos 69 percent of the time and Latinos were targeted by blacks 61 percent of the time.
• Gang members were responsible for 22 percent of racial crime.
• White supremacists were responsible for 20 percent of hate crimes and targeted Jews (29 percent), blacks (28 percent) and Latinos (12 percent). Of those, 14 percent were violent crimes.
• Hate crimes based on sexual orientation went up from 111 to 134 and remain the second largest group (18 percent), and were the most likely to be violent (73 percent).

Some of the numbers can be attributed to the at times vitriol 2008 presidential election, as well as the contentious debate over gays' and lesbians' right to marry.

Toma said a racist backlash against Barack Obama during the presidential election included vandalism, acts of intimidation and hanging nooses across the country.

Amanda Susskind of the Anti-Defamation League added that the recession and election of a "non-white" president has led to an increase in hateful rhetoric in the media and that contributes to the increase in hate-related crime.

"One affects the other," said Susskind. "This kind of rhetoric is inflammatory and there are people in the community that take it to the next level."

Jean, of the Gay and Lesbian Center, said she believes that's true of her community too. According to the report, nine hate crimes were prompted by Proposition 8, the amendment to the California Constitution that bans same-sex marriage.

Lorri Jean of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. (Photo by: Kim Nowacki)

"I don't' think it's any surprise that hate crimes against my community spiked in 2008, when we were finally given equal rights under the law with regard to marriage," said Jean, who lives in Hollywood.

"We were getting married in huge numbers and then Prop 8 was put on the ballot and there was that campaign. That raised the visibility and you had political leaders and others spewing venom and discriminatory rhetoric and bigotry against our community. It's no accident that hate crimes against us increased in that environment."

Another finding in the report showed that hate crimes have shifted from mostly occurring in public places to private homes.

Shannise Davey and her four children had to move from their home in Duarte this past May after it was burglarized and vandalized with anti-black slurs and Latino gang symbols.

"It left me feeling unsafe and left me feeling uneasy," she said. "You don't really want to go in that neighborhood anymore. I had to uproot my whole life."

Since 1990, the highest number of hate crimes reported in L.A. County was in 2001 with 1,031 incidents. The least amount -- 502 -- was in 2004.

"We all know prejudice and bias are at the base of this," said Jean. "That root is what we've got to cut out and as long as we have a society where it is acceptable to discriminate against groups of people simply because of who they are or who they love, hate crimes are going to continue and we have to stop that."

Reach reporter Kim Nowacki here. Join Neon Tommy's Facebook fan page or follow us on Twitter.