State Hate Crimes Laws
O State with Hate Crimes Law on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation O State with Hate Crimes Law on Sexual Orientation M State with Hate Crimes Law without Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity
Colorado COLO. R EV. STAT. §§ 18-9-121(1), 18-9-121(5)(B), 13-21-106.5
WHAT DOES THE STATE LAW DO? Q
Makes it a bias-motivated crime to, “with the intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation, knowingly cause bodily injury to another person, place another person in fear of imminent lawless action or knowingly cause damage to the property of another person.” COLO. REV. STAT. § 18-9-121(1).
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Defines sexual orientation to include “transgender status.” COLO. REV. STAT. § 18-9-121(5)(B).
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Provides a civil remedy. COLO. REV. STAT. § 13-21-106.5.
HOW ARE LGBT PERSONS STILL NOT PROTECTED? Q
Colorado law does a good job of providing broad protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in its hate crimes law.
HOW COULD THE STATE LAW BE IMPROVED? Q
The law should require the collection and reporting of hate crimes data. The federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to track statistics on violent and non-violent (i.e., crimes against property) hate crimes. This tracking depends on federal, state and local officials to record and report all hate crimes as defined by the HCPA. Thus, even if Colorado’s law does not explicitly include gender identity/expression, those hate crimes should be carefully tracked and reported for federal purposes.
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The law should explicitly provide for police training on hate crimes.
A Guide to State-Level Advocacy Following Enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
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