NBC11.com
While discrimination and hate crimes against gays, lesbians and transgender individuals plummeted in 2006, severe violence has spiked around Northern California, according to a report released Tuesday morning.
Transgender women of color are particularly at risk, according to Community United Against Violence, the San Francisco-based organization that released the Report of Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Violence.
The overall murder rate for gays, lesbians and transgender people in Northern California doubled from 2005 to 2006, from two to four cases. Half of those victims were transgender women of color, according to the report.