Los Angeles Reports Rise in Anti-Trans and Homophobic Hate Crimes. Many More May Be Going Unreported

New data confirms what LGBTQ+ advocates have feared: hate crimes against queer and transgender people are on the rise in Los Angeles. Released Tuesday, intradepartmental correspondence from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) confirms that the number of LGBTQ+ hate crimes against gay men, which the report refers to as “gay males,” and transgender individuals in San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, is higher in the first seven months of 2026 than it was in 2025. The report, dated September 21, 2026, shares that, from January 1 to July 31, 2026, a total of 416 hate crimes were documented across all groups in all bureaus of Los Angeles, compared to the 408 that occurred throughout the same time period in 2025, representing only a near 2% increase. But when looking specifically at crimes broken down by identity, three of four LAPD bureaus (South, Valley, and West), show that the percentages of hate crimes against both gay men and transgender people increased from 2025 to 2026.In the Valley Police Bureau, hate crimes against gay men rose 38%, jumping from eight in 2025 to 11 in 2026, while anti-trans hate crimes rose 100% going from two in 2025 to four in 2026. The West Los Angeles Police Bureau saw hate crimes committed against gay men rise from 13 in 2025 to 17 in 2026 (a 31% increase), while anti-trans hate crimes increased from four to eight, another 100% increase.In the correspondence, hate crimes coordinator and LAPD Detective Dara Hamilton notes that due to the small size of the numbers reported, any slight change could result in a larger percentage increase. For example, the number of anti-trans hate crimes in LA’s South Bureau went from two in 2025 to five in 2026, resulting in a 150% increase in the number of anti-trans hate crimes committed, even though the number of crimes only increased by three. Nevertheless, the number, regardless of percentage, has resulted in harm to the queer and trans communities in Los Angeles.“Each of these numbers