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Hate Crime Laws: Law Enforcement Training

Hate crime laws, in their current form, rely on law enforcement for responding to hate crime incidents, identifying incidents as hate-motivated, collecting data, connecting victims to needed resources, and more. Some states require law enforcement to receive training about hate crimes, and these trainings commonly include how to correctly identify, appropriately respond to, and accurately collect data and report hate crimes. Importantly, law enforcement training requirements can include more or fewer categories (e.g., crimes based on sexual orientation) than the state’s main hate crime law. The map below shows both what states require law enforcement training about hate crimes, and of those states, which specifically require law enforcement training about hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
State requires hate crime training for law enforcement, including for crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity
(13 states)
State requires hate crime training for law enforcement, including for crimes based on sexual orientation
(4 states)
State requires hate crime training for law enforcement, but does not mention crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity
(1 state)
State does not require hate crime training for law enforcement
(32 states + 5 territories + D.C.)
State requires hate crime training, but only for prosecuting attorneys and not for police
State requires hate crime training, but only for prosecuting attorneys and not for police
(1 state)
Citations & More Information

*Note: Kentucky’s hate crime law includes hate crimes based on sexual orientation, but its law enforcement training requirement does not. Oregon’s hate crime law includes hate crimes based on gender identity, but its law enforcement training requirement does not.

In states without hate crime training requirements, law enforcement may still receive such training, but it is not statutorily required that they do so.

Read MAP’s report Policy Spotlight: Hate Crime Laws (July 2021) for more analysis of the many dimensions of state hate crime laws, the complex patchwork across states, the limitations of hate crime laws, and the potential opportunities for expanding social and policy responses to hate violence.

Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project. 2026. “Equality Maps: Hate Crime Laws.” https://mapresearch.org/equality-map/hate-crime-laws/. Data as of June 12, 2026.

Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBTQ adult population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBTQ adult population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.

41%
41% of LGBTQ population lives in states that require hate crime training for law enforcement, including about crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity
12%
12% of LGBTQ population lives in states that require hate crime training for law enforcement, including about crimes based on sexual orientation only
1%
1% of LGBTQ population lives in states that require hate crime training for law enforcement, but not about crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity
46%
46% of LGBTQ population lives in states that do not require hate crime training for law enforcement