That’s what a superficial reading of the latest FBI statistics would indicate. Massachusetts law enforcement agencies reported 333 crimes “that manifest[ed] evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity” last year to the FBI. That translates to 52 such crimes per million residents, which would make us the fifth most hate-filled state in the union (behind New Jersey, Delaware, South Dakota, and Michigan).

At the other end of the scale, Mississippi law enforcement agencies that participated in the FBI survey reported a grand total of four hate crimes last year. Those agencies cover about 750,000 people, which makes for a rate of 5.3 per million. (Mississippi has 2.9 million people overall, but most of the state doesn’t even bother to send data to the FBI.)

The extreme variation in reporting techniques from state to state, and often from year to year, mean that the reported 11 percent increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation last year is highly questionable, and the FBI explicitly warns against comparing data from year to year.

It does not follow that hate crime laws and anti-violence programs are unnecessary. They’re justifiable simply on the grounds of human decency. But touting shaky data without explaining its limitations (as the Human Rights Campaign does here) is the kind of “anti-science” tactic more often associated with global warming deniers and supply-side economists.