anti-LGBT+ acts up 3% in 2022, announces the Ministry of the Interior

Worrying figures. Attacks against LGBT + people increased by 3% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to a study published on Wednesday May 17 by the statistical service of the Ministry of the Interior. Nearly 4,000 facts were recorded, mostly defamation or insults. Among these, 2,420 are anti-LGBT+ crimes or misdemeanors, an increase of 13% compared to last year, while the facts recorded as contraventions are down 9%.

This increase “could translate an upward qualification of anti-LGBT+ abuses, more systematically recorded as crimes or misdemeanors rather than fines” by the forces of order, according to the study of the ministry, published every year on the occasion of the international day against homophobia and transphobia. Hate against LGBT+ people remains “anchored” in French society, the SOS homophobia association was alarmed in its annual report published on Tuesday.

Most acts committed in large cities

Since 2016, anti-LGBT+ acts have increased sharply: +129% for crimes and misdemeanors, +115% for fines. But this is only the visible part of these attacks: only 20% of victims of threats or violence and 5% of victims of insults report them to the police or the gendarmerie, recalls the study. These attacks are mostly committed (56%) in towns with more than 200,000 inhabitants. Paris is the city where anti-LGBT+ acts are the most frequent, with 400 cases recorded, or 18.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The victims are mainly men (72%), aged under 30 (52%) and the majority of attacks take place in public places. The perpetrators are also mostly men (83%) rather young (35% are under 20 years old, of which 11% are under 15 years old).