(NewsNation) — At least 145 incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ hate and extremism were recorded by GLAAD and the Anti-Defamation League in June during Pride 2023.
Among these acts were 102 accounts of harassment, 37 instances of vandalism and six assaults. Additionally, GLAAD and the ADL said there were increased attacks on corporations that appeared to support the LGBTQ+ community, including Target, Anheuser Busch and Disney World.
“Many of these incidents weaponized baseless and harmful conspiracy theories, such as false claims of ‘grooming’ by LGBTQ+ adults or egregiously inaccurate allegations of “child mutilation” in gender-affirming care,” GLAAD said in a news release. “Perpetrators of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents also often targeted other marginalized communities like people of color and the Jewish community while attacking the LGBTQ+ community.”
The 145 incidents from this year’s Pride are over three times the amount GLAAD and the ADL noted last year, and a record high of incidents over the last 13 months, according to the organizations.
Incidents include the murder of a woman at a Texas gas station by a stranger who the Austin American-Statesman wrote shouted anti-gay slurs at the woman before allegedly shooting her three times.
All this comes at a time when majority-conservative legislatures across the country have sought to ban drag shows, prohibit gender-affirming care and limit how teachers can talk about sexuality and gender in the classroom.
NewsNation partner The Hill reports lawmakers in these states passed measures barring trans people from the bathrooms that conform to their gender identity and from girls’ and women’s sports. In some states, The Hill writes, legislatures and governors are working to block access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
In total, the American Civil Liberties Union has tracked 491 anti-LGBTQ+ bills nationwide.
“While not all of these bills will become law, they all cause harm for LGBTQ+ people,” the ACLU wrote.
In a report published last month, GLAAD and the ADL found there were “at least 356 anti-LGBTQ+ extremist and non-extremist incidents motivated by hate” between June 2022 and April 2023.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.