October 18th In NYC: The 14th Annual Anti-Violence Project Courage Awards

Hosted once again by Law & Order's BD Wong, this year's Anti-Violence Project Courage Awards honorees are the Paul Rapoport Foundation, Gay City News journalist Duncan Osborne, and Village Voice columnist Steven Thrasher. Get tickets here. AVP executive director Sharon Stapel raves about Thrasher to the Village Voice:

"Your work at the Village Voice, particularly your coverage of proposed state funding cuts for domestic violence, has been exemplary. In recognition of your work as a community activist, advocate and journalist, we would like to honor you with a 2010 Courage Award. In accepting this award, you will join the distinguished company of past awardees including: progressive LGBTQ bloggers -- Bill Browning, Joe Jervis, Pam Spaulding and Andy Towle, Tony Kushner, Emil Wilbekin and George C. Wolfe to name but a few."

The NYC Anti-Violence Project is the city's primary civilian organization dedicated to immediate responses to incidents of violence against the LGBT community. Please consider supporting their vital work.

TONIGHT: Anti-Violence Project To Hold Manhattan Gay-Bashing Vigil

The NYC Anti-Violence Project will hold a vigil tonight at the Chelsea location of this weekend's brutal attack against a group of gay men. Facebook event page here.

“We will not allow perpetrators of anti-LGBTQ violence to come into our communities and target us. Today we send a strong message that our communities will not be intimidated by this violence and that we will stand up in the face of it and demand equality and respect. This is a wake-up call for every New Yorkers. We all have a responsibility to end this culture of violence against LGBTQ people, which has become so apparent in recent weeks.” AVP is working with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, the office of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and other City Council leaders on both of these incidents.

Meet tonight at the corner of 9th Avenue and W.25th Street at 6pm. Important: "AVP encourages you to report any anti-LGBTQ bias, including hate speech, bullying, harassment, and physical violence, to our 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline at 212-714-1141 where you can speak with a trained counselor and seek the support you need."

RELATED: The 2010 Anti-Violence Project Courage Awards take place Monday, October 18th. Get tickets here.

REPORT: Anti-Gay Violent Crimes In 2009

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs today issued their annual report on the reported violent crimes against LGBT people in 2009. The news isn't great.

Anti-LGBTQ hate violence continues to be a pervasive social problem at the same time as vital resources and support for hate violence survivors are at risk amidst economic crisis. This year, 22 victims of hate murder were reported by NCAVP, the second-highest rate in a decade, reflecting a pattern of severe and persistent violence against LGBTQ communities. Notably, NCAVP saw the highest spike in reported incidents of violence in October 2009, coinciding with the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This statistic seems to reflect a correlation between increased visibility and increased vulnerability and targeting. Despite these disturbing trends, financial support and much needed services for hate violence survivors have only declined due to ongoing economic conditions.

Of the 22 reported hate murder victims in 2009, 79% were people of color, and most were transgender women or were feminine-presenting. As evidenced in this report, members of traditionally marginalized communities continue to be disproportionately targeted for severe violence. “These facts are deeply disturbing as these are the same people who are more likely to face discrimination, criminalization or further violence when interacting with criminal legal and social service systems. What we see is that they are less likely to seek and access support from these institutions,” said Maria Carolina Morales, Intervention Director of Community United Against Violence (CUAV) in San Francisco.

The report stresses that since many of the coalition's member groups suffering funding cuts last year, an unknown number of violent crimes probably went unreported and uninvestigated.

RELATED: The New York City Council has declared today a "Day of Solidarity" with the LGBT community in Puerto Rico following the seventh murder of a gay person there in 2010. The City Council denounced the "unacceptable, deafening silence from Puerto Rican authorities in response to the brutal violence and murders" of LGBT people.