Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes remain high despite a drop in violent crime overall in the U.S., according to the latest report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, released Tuesday.

In 2024, law enforcement agencies sharing data with the FBI reported 2,278 single-bias hate crimes based on sexual orientation and 527 based on gender identity. For sexual orientation-motivated crimes, that’s a drop of 5 percent from 2023’s tally of 2,402. For crimes based on gender identity, that’s a drop of 3 percent from 2023’s total of 547. Crimes in both categories had risen from 2022 to 2023.

But the numbers are still unacceptably high, activists say, and anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric is often to blame.

There were an estimated 1,221,345 violent crimes nationwide, a decrease of 4.5 percent from the 2023 estimate, the FBI report notes.

There were 16,419 agencies participating in the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics Data Collection program for 2024. Of those, 3,127 (19 percent) reported 11,679 incidents. The remaining 81 percent of agencies reported that no hate crimes occurred in their jurisdictions.

Of the 11,323 single-bias incidents reported, 17.2 percent were motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. That was the third-largest category, with crimes based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry being first and religiously motivated crimes second. There were 4.1 percent based on gender identity bias, the fourth-largest category.

The crimes based on sexual orientation included 51.8 percent classified as anti-gay male bias; 37.1 percent prompted by anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (mixed group) bias; 8.1 percent classified as anti-lesbian bias; 2 percent classified as anti-bisexual bias; and 1 percent motivated by anti-heterosexual bias.

Of the single-bias crimes based on gender identity, 72.5 percent were anti-transgender and 27.5 percent were anti-gender-nonconformity.

The majority of all hate crimes were against people rather than property. Crimes against people included intimidation, simple assault, aggravated assault, rape, and murder. There were 21 rapes and seven murders reported.

“The FBI’s 2024 hate crime data has revealed a national emergency hiding in plain sight. Everyone deserves to be safe in this country and have the chance to thrive. But anti-equality politicians continue to spread lies about LGBTQ+ people, trying to push us out of more and more corners of society,” said a statementreleased by Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “Those smears come with a cost. The FBI has exposed a chilling reality: our community remains a target of violence — and that is unacceptable. LGBTQ+ people, just like everyone else, should be free to live our lives, pursue our careers and education, build our homes and pursue our American Dreams, without the threat of violence hanging over our heads. This FBI data is clear: we need more support from our political leaders, not animosity and attacks that seek to demonize us.”