Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Crimes in Arizona Are Increasing. There’s No Law to Prosecute Them.

Arizona doesn’t have a hate crime statute. And due to gaps in reporting and data, tracking bias-motivated crimes here is a mess.

In 2023, Bernardo Pantaleon and Osvaldo Hernandez Castillo were murdered just eight months apart. The man accused of killing them, Leonardo Santiago, was initially booked in connection to Pantaleon’s death but later confessed and was indicted for both murders. Both victims were gay men.

Court records show Santiago made homophobic remarks online before killing Pantaleon. When he confessed to the murder, he alleged an “unwanted advance,” while investigators found evidence suggesting a sexual relationship between Santiago and Castillo.

If that sounds like textbook hate crime material, Arizona law disagrees.

The Fine Print on Arizona’s Hate Crime Enhancements

Unlike other states, Arizona doesn’t have a standalone hate crime charge. The closest thing is an enhancement that can be added after a conviction—if prosecutors prove bias was a motive. And even then, it only applies to felonies, not misdemeanors, according to Detective Charlee McDermott of Phoenix Police Department’s Bias Crimes Unit.

Here’s how that plays out in real life: If someone kills a person while hurling slurs, that fact might extend their sentence—but that’s not a guarantee.

“Legislation like this isn’t just about punishment. It’s about making sure that marginalized communities know they’re protected, that their government acknowledges the threats they face, and that violence against them won’t be tolerated.”
-Cathryn Oakley, Senior Director for Legal Policy at the Human Rights Campaign

For LGBTQ+ Arizonans, the law has some glaring holes: “Sexual orientation” qualifies for a hate crime enhancement, but “gender identity” does not. That means protections don’t extend to nonbinary or gender-fluid people. Transgender individuals, however, do fall under the broader “gender” category, according to McDermott.

Federally, hate crimes and hate incidents are two different things. A crime involves actual violence or vandalism; an incident—like writing a homophobic slur in chalk—doesn’t meet that threshold. That distinction matters when…..