© Mark Kauzlarich / Reuters
Even before Sunday’s shooting in Orlando, the LGBT community was more at risk for hate crimes in America than any other minority group, according to FBI data. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are the most likely targets of hate crimes, with LGBT people being twice as likely to be targeted as blacks. In the past 10 years, the rate of hate crimes based on sexual orientation has surpassed that of crimes against Jewish people. Of 5,462 single-bias hate crimes reported in 2014, nearly one-fifth were because of the victim’s perceived or actual sexual orientation. Those numbers are partially because as culture in general shifts toward acceptance, those who are opposed to it become more radical, according to legal and psychology experts quoted in The New York Times.