June 1, 2021

The Center’s Statement

Today, Trevon Mayers, Senior Director of Advocacy & Community Engagement at The LGBT Community Center, released the following statement reacting to New York State’s passage of the Hate Crimes Analysis and Review Act:

“The Center congratulates New York State lawmakers for passing the Hate Crimes Analysis and Review Act (S00070/A02230). It will help address the alarming lack of transparency around hate crimes, laying the groundwork for the creation of laws and policies that can better protect all marginalized New Yorkers from hate violence. We also thank Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Karines Reyes for championing this important effort.

The legislation requires the state to collect and publicly report more comprehensive demographic information about both the survivors of hate crimes and the people who are arrested & charged for committing those crimes. This information is vital because it will shed light on how New York State’s current hate crime laws are working, and clarify how they need to improve in order to better protect communities at risk.

Despite stringent hate crime penalties, our state only requires the collection of limited hate crimes data and has reported it inconsistently—sometimes with delays as long as two years. As long as we lack a firm grasp of how hate violence is impacting our communities, we cannot be confident in the state’s current strategies for combating it.

This issue is especially urgent in light of recent increases in hate violence, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country. It is high time for our state to explore more effective and restorative methods to address this. Today, they have taken the first step, by equipping lawmakers and community advocates alike with the data necessary to develop better survivor support services and policy models that can decrease the likelihood of hate crimes occurring in the first place.

At The Center, we are proud to have proposed and led in advocating for the passage of this legislation as part of our advocacy initiative, RiseOut, a collaboration of more than 50 statewide partners and community leaders. From working closely with bill sponsors, to garnering thousands of petition signatures in support of its passage, and mobilizing scores of volunteers in text- and phone-banking actions that raised awareness among voters and lawmakers, this has been a multi-year effort that demonstrates the power that diverse sectors of our community can have when we work together to raise our voices and demand change.”