OAKLAND, Calif. – On June 30, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a “State of Pride Report” commemorating the end of Pride Month and highlighting the California Department of Justice’s actions to “support, uplift, and defend the rights of LGBTQ+ communities across California and beyond.”
Attorney General Bonta began by acknowledging the rise in attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, stating, “It is more important than ever that we recommit ourselves to the ongoing fight for equality, safety, and inclusion.”
According to Bonta, the State of Pride Report outlines the DOJ’s efforts to defend and advance LGBTQ+ rights while also underscoring “the work that remains to be done to ensure LGBTQ+ individuals have access to all the rights and resources they deserve.”
One of the DOJ’s initiatives highlighted in the report is the Hate Crime Rapid Response Protocol, which provides resources for local law enforcement to “efficiently handle significant hate crimes and extremism.”
Additionally, the report calls attention to other DOJ projects aimed at cultivating “safe and inclusive” classrooms for LGBTQ+ students, enabling transgender athletes to “participate in sports aligned with their gender identity,” and ensuring access to “critical lifesaving care.”
The report also underscores the adversities facing the LGBTQ+ community nationwide, and specifically in California, where 2.8 million people identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in 2024.
According to the report, between 2023 and 2024, there were 172 reported hate crime events in California motivated by a general “anti-LGBTQ+ bias,” marking an increase of 13.9% from the previous year. Furthermore, 73 hate crimes were motivated by anti-transgender bias, 251 by anti-gay bias, and 23 by anti-lesbian bias.
In addition, more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills “targeting healthcare, education, and public spaces” were introduced across the country.
The report also highlighted a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes nationwide, citing the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most recent annual crime report. According to the FBI, there was a nearly 16% increase in hate crimes based on gender identity and a nearly 23% increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
