Executive Summary
California has over two dozen state statutes designed to combat hate crimes, including hate crimes against transgender and nonbinary people. Some of these statutes target hate crimes directly by increasing penalties for perpetrators who commit crimes based on the victim’s perceived or actual personal characteristics, including gender identity and gender expression. Other statutes offer support to survivors of hate crimes, including transgender and nonbinary people, through grants and other programs. Similarly, federal laws provide for federal prosecution of certain crimes committed because of the victim’s personal characteristics, including gender identity, and provide support for state and local tracking and enforcement of hate crime laws through grants.
This brief provides an overview of these state and federal laws. California criminal law, law enforcement policies, grant programs, hate violence at schools, and civil remedies are discussed first, followed by federal criminal law, data collection, grant programs, and hate violence at schools. Within each section, statutes are divided by whether they explicitly address or fail to address hate crimes motivated by gender identity bias. The laws discussed in this paper specifically address hate crimes and hate violence. While both California and federal statutes include other protections for transgender people, such as protections from discrimination and bullying, those laws are beyond the scope of this report and are not discussed here.
California Laws
Criminal Law
- California has one standalone hate crime statute, which prohibits injury, intimidation, or interference with another’s rights. In addition, three other statutes provide sentencing enhancements for misdemeanors and felonies when perpetrators are motivated by bias against a victim’s personal characteristics. All four hate crime laws apply when victims are targeted for their gender—defined as sex, gender identity, or gender expression—among other personal characteristics.
Law Enforcement Policies & Education
- Law enforcement agencies must adopt policies addressing hate crimes, including protocols for reporting and first responder responsibilities.
- Law enforcement officers must complete training on hate crimes. The training must include instruction on handling incidents in a non-combative manner, relevant hate crime laws, and preparing for future hate crime waves. Basic training must also include a course on the LGBTQ community, discussing terminology, creating an inclusive workplace for LGBTQ law enforcement staff, and responding effectively to hate crimes involving LGBTQ individuals. Law enforcement officers and staff can complete supplemental training that includes these LGBTQ topics.
Grant Programs
- Several grant programs in California provide funding to combat and address hate crimes and hate incidents, including:
- To heighten security around vulnerable buildings;
- To facilitate prevention measures and support victims of hate crimes; and
- To assist prosecutorial agencies in establishing vertical prosecution units that focus on serving victims and resolving hate crime cases.
- Because the state’s definition of hate crimes includes gender identity and expression, these grant programs can be used to assist victims targeted for those characteristics.
- Hate Violence at Schools and Colleges
- California requires post-secondary institutions to compile records of criminal hate violence that happens on campus or that is reported to a campus official. This includes hate violence against victims targeted for their gender identity or expression.
- The State Board of Education is required to develop policies that ensure schools are free of discriminatory attitudes and hate violence. The State Department of Education must provide regional training to assist school district personnel in identifying hate violence in schools.
Civil Remedies
- Victims of certain forms of violence, including violence motivated by a victim’s gender identity or gender expression, can seek civil remedies.
Federal Laws
Criminal Law
- The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act prohibits causing injury to another or attempting to do so through the use of fire, weapons, or an explosive device, because of the victim’s gender or gender identity, among other protected characteristics. The statute also prohibits conspiracy to commit a hate crime where actual injury, attempted or actual killing, kidnapping, or aggravated sexual abuse occurs.
Data Collection and Reporting
- The Attorney General must acquire and publish hate crime statistics. The Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Act of 2009 expanded data collection to include hate crimes involving gender and gender identity. Reporting hate crime statistics to the U.S. Attorney General is required for federal law enforcement agencies, but optional for states.
Grant Programs
- Congress established several grant programs designed to help states combat hate crimes, including:
- Grants to state, local, and tribal programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles, including those targeting victims based on their gender;
- Financial assistance for agencies investigating and prosecuting hate crimes with extraordinary expenses, including hate crimes targeting victims based on their gender and gender identity;
- Grants for state or local governments to assist them in implementing the National Incident-Based Reporting system and running hate crime reporting hotlines, which can benefit victims targeted because of their gender and gender identity; and
- Grants for eligible law enforcement agencies to establish hate crime units and provide hate crime training, including on hate crimes targeting victims based on their gender and gender identity.
- None of these grants addresses hate crimes targeting gender expression.
Hate Violence at Schools and Colleges
- Federal law requires institutions of higher education to disclose their crime statistics, including hate crimes targeting victims because of their gender identity, to current and prospective students and employees each year.