The impact of anti-LGBTIQA+ hate crimes on diverse LGBTIQA+ communities, including Rainbow Mob, people with disability, and multifaith and multicultural community members.
LGBTIQA+ is a broad term that represents a diverse community with a wide range of sexual orientations, gender identities and sex characteristics. The challenges and harms experienced by LGBTIQA+ individuals and communities are not uniform and may differ or be compounded depending on a person’s intersecting identities and characteristics, including age, cultural background, migration history, faith and disability.
Anti-LGBTIQA+ hate crimes have widespread impacts on not just individuals but across communities as it undermines connection, belonging, safety and visibility.
Impacts of hate crimes on LGBTIQA+ individuals and communities
Hate crimes can cause significant psychological, physical, social and financial harms on individuals, families and wider communities. Crimes motivated by hatred because of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity can cause greater physical and emotional harm than similar crimes not motivated by hate (32). Additionally, LGBTIQA+ people who experience hate crimes can receive less empathy, less support and experience victim blaming when reporting (28).
Repeated exposure to direct or indirect experiences of discrimination and violence against LGBTIQA+ communities can lower the expectations of LGBTIQA+ people that they will be treated equally and with respect, and may normalise violence experienced within a family, particularly family of origin or within intimate partner contexts including dating relationships (4).
Beyond the individuals directly impacted by hate crimes, it can also have profound impacts on the broader LGBTIQA+ communities. Often designed to intimidate, these crimes can generate widespread fear, anxiety, depression which can translate into behavioural changes such as isolation if people feel that they need to hide their sexual or gender identities to protect their safety (29).
A 2026 paper by the Digital Ethnography Research Centre, Digital harms: Consistency in definition, understanding and action, suggests that consistent and harmful content and interactions in online spaces, such as misinformation, hate and violence against LGBTIQA+ people and communities, does not only harm those it directly targets, but also shapes the accepted attitudes, behaviours and norms across digital and physical spaces. Anti-LGBTIQA+ content, disinformation and violence have significant and wide-reaching impacts across individuals, communities and digital spaces.
As highlighted earlier in this submission, overlapping and intersecting drivers of violence, including racism, ableism and ageism connect to broader systems of social inequality and oppression that can shape and compound experiences of harm across LGBTIQA+ communities.
Rainbow Mob
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQA+ people, often referred to as Rainbow Mob, anti-LGBTIQA+ hate crimes can exacerbate existing trauma rooted in colonisation, systemic discrimination, and ongoing marginalisation (30).
Rainbow Mob can experience significant barriers to reporting hate crimes due to historical and ongoing experiences of over policing and institutional harm. Culturally safe, community-led responses and specialised response services are essential to adequately support Rainbow Mob.
People with disability
LGBTIQA+ people with disability experience disproportionately higher levels of harassment, abuse and discrimination. More than half (52.6% of young people) with disability reported experiencing verbal harassment due to their sexuality or gender identity in the last 12 months, compared to 34.7% of young people without disability (1).
Multifaith and multicultural community members
LGBTIQA+ people from multicultural and multifaith communities may experience unique challenges, navigating expectations of cultural and religious communities and broader social environments. Hate crimes targeting LGBTIQA+ people can cause further isolation for people whose faith does not support LGBTIQA+ identities. They can also report higher rates of family-based rejection and social exclusion, and may face additional barriers to reporting, due to language barriers, culturally safe services and fear of immigration consequences (31).
An intersectional approach is essential to the design and implementation of meaningful, inclusive and effective prevention and response services.