Since the 1969 Stonewall riots against one of the many police raids on gay bars, there have been many more reports and instances of violence against LGBT people in the United States. The violence that has occurred over the existence of the LGBT community has been more extensive considering how long the incidents have occurred. Violence can also occur between couples who are of the same sex, statistics showing that violence among same-sex couples is more common than among than couples of the opposite sex. People who are perceived to be LGBT may also be targeted. Those targeted by such violence are believed to violate heteronormative rules and contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. The history of violence against LGBT people in the United States is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender individuals ( LGBT), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of America. A memorial in May 2013 where Mark Carson, a 32-year-old black gay man, was shot to death by another man who trailed and taunted him and a friend as they walked down the street in New York City's Greenwich Village
