Group: Anti-Gay Killings Highest Since '99

A national advocacy group says the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people killed in bias-motivated incidents increased by 28 percent in 2008 compared to 2007.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released its report Tuesday. It says last year's 29 killings is the highest it has recorded since 1999. It documented the same number of slayings then.

The New York-based coalition says the overall number of victims who reported gay bias violence in 2008 increased by 2 percent.

The coalition says its figures are more accurate than those from law enforcement agencies. As an example, the group says the FBI doesn't record bias crimes against transgender people because gender identity isn't covered by federal hate-crime law.

The report comes as gay groups show increased frustration at President Obama's gay rights agenda.

On Monday, Joe Solmonese, president of advocacy group The Human Rights Campaign, sent an angry letter to Mr. Obama criticizing a Justice Department brief filed in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and doesn't mandate states to recognize those marriages performed elsewhere in the country.

Mr. Obama vowed to repeal DOMA as a presidential candidate but he has not taken any action to do so since becoming president.

Last month, CBS News also reported on Mr. Obama's unfulfilled pledge to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving.