Department Of Homeland Security Warns That Threats Against The LGBTQIA+ Community Are Intensifying

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Authorities warn that large-scale shootings have inspired people to carry out copycat attacks.

Photo: Chet Strange/Getty Images

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community are on the rise and are intensifyinggenerating an alert to the growing wave of armed violence.

The DHS document, distributed to government and law enforcement agencies on May 11, said that domestic violence extremists and hate crime offenders have increased threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community in the past year.

“These issues include actions tied to drag-themed events, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQIA+ curricula in schools,” DHS said.

DHS said that issues that inspire threats and calls for violence against the LGBTQIA+ community could lead to an increase in potential attacks against larger targetssuch as public spaces and healthcare sites that may be linked to the community.

DHS analysts also cite social media conversations celebrating the recent mass shooting at a Nashville religious school.

“High-profile attacks on schools and religious institutions, such as the recent shooting in Nashville, have historically inspired people to carry out copycat attacks,” DHS said.

According to DHS, about 20% of all reported hate crimes nationwide in 2021 were motivated by bias related to sexual orientation and gender, citing FBI hate crime statistics.

This warning becomes relevant less than a year after Anderson Lee Aldrich was involved in a shooting where at least five people died and 19 were injured inside the Club Q gay nightclub in the state of Colorado.