FBI not tracking gay murders.

• Position: YOUR LIFE

Over the past 10 years, more than 50 young people aged 30 and under were murdered violently by assailants who targeted them because they did not fit stereotypes for masculinity or femininity, according to a report issued by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC), Washington, D.C. The report reveals a unique vulnerability at the intersection of age, race, and gender nonconformity that makes a fatal assault exponentially more likely.

"While many youth who don't fit gender stereotypes for masculinity or femininity face harassment or bullying, when it comes to gender-based murder, the victims are specific and consistent," says Riki Wilchins, GenderPAC's executive director. "These victims tended to share the same characteristics: they were mostly ========= ======== black or Latino, were biologically male and presenting with some degree of femininity, and were killed by other young males in attacks of extraordinary and often multiple acts of violence"

"Aggression and violence have become acceptable ways of policing gender performance and punishing the transgression of gender boundaries in American culture," states Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology at Stony...