As on every May 17, World Day Against LGBTphobias (Idahot), the SOS Homophobia association publishes its annual report and the Ministry of the Interior its latest data concerning anti-LGBT+, lesbophobic and transphobic crime.
On this last May 17 before the 2027 presidential election, the figures are still not good regarding LGBTphobic violence. In its thirtieth annual report, SOS Homophobia reports 1,771 victims’ testimonies collected during the year 2025 through its telephone listening services and online chat lines, while the Ministry of the Interior records, for the same period, 4,900 anti-LGBT+ offences (+2%), of which 64% are crimes and offences (+4%).
If the data from the police and the gendarmerie appear to be stabilizing, it is after a +172% rise in recorded acts since 2016 (1,800 anti-LGBT infractions at that time), which keeps anti-LGBT+ violence at a historically high level. SOS Homophobia’s data is also rising again, following a lull last year (1,571 testimonies in 2024) which itself followed the sharp increase recorded in 2023.
Youth, Victim and Perpetrator
According to the data from the Ministry of the Interior, 71% of the 3,200 victims of anti-LGBT+ crimes and offences recorded in 2025 were men, “a stable share since 2016“. In the association’s report, narratives of gayphobia remain dominant (57%), ahead of those of transphobia (27%) and lesbophobia (15%), then biphobia (3%).
Already pointed out for several years, the overrepresentation of young people among those charged with anti-LGBT+ physical violence — still mostly men (83%) — remains concerning. The 18-29 age group still forms the largest share (27%), and the 13-17 bracket account for 25% of alleged perpetrators, even though they represent only 6% of the population. This trend is also visible among victims, of whom 48% are under 30, while this age group accounts for only 35% of the population.
Digital Space and Homophobic Ambushes
The other trend that is confirmed is the increasing share of digital space in anti-LGBT+ offences, which rises again by 9%. “Most of these acts were committed on social networks or began there“, explains the Ministry of the Interior. And even if the acts in question mainly concern online harassment, it is there, authorities note, that “acts as serious as kidnapping or death threats” arise, i.e., the pattern of homophobic ambushes.
On this scourge that claims more than one victim every week in France, the State announced this spring in Têtu the signing of a charter between the DILCRAH (Interministerial Delegation for the Fight Against Anti-LGBT Hatred) and four dating apps (Grindr, Tinder, Happn and Bumble) to strengthen prevention as well as detection and reporting of accounts seeking to target gay men. “We hope that this first step toward preventing homophobic ambushes will bear fruit”, hails SOS Homophobia, which notes: “It is with great care that we will pay attention to the annual reports of DILCRAH on the subject.” Until then, the parties that aim to influence the 2027 electoral sequence have less than a year to convince that they can do better to curb the progression of anti-LGBT violence.
