Filed by: Waymon Hudson
March 16, 2008 8:30 AM

Fight OUT Loud has created a moving video about the surge in Hate Crimes in 2008. The disturbing statistic is that every 8 days in 2008 an LGBT person has been murdered. And these are just the people we know about, since hate crimes are notoriously under-reported.

Even worse, there is a new name that has been added that is not in the video-- Daniel Yakovleff, who was only 20.



Daniel Yakovleff blog.pngDaniel Yakovleff was a 20 year-old hairdresser from Boston, MA who was brutally stabbed to death in January 2008.

Besides the frequency of the violence, there are other numbers that are even more frightening.

Of the 8 reported murders, 5 were under 25 years old (the youngest was only 15), 6 were transgender or gender-variant, and 5 were African-American.

As the video says:

Wake Up. Get Angry. Get involved.

We must work to protect the most vulnerable members of our community. And when I say community, I mean the LGB and the T. We cannot afford to tell any part of our community to "wait for their time" for rights and protections to come.

For these 8 lives, and for countless others, the wait has been too long.

Visit Fight OUT Loud or any of the other great LGBT organizations fighting for our community and take an active role in our community's struggle. We can no longer afford to be silent.