In its recently released 2019 Hate Crime Report, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) analyzed and presented crime data submitted by law enforcement, community-based organizations and educational institutions, which together revealed that violent hate crime last year reached a 10-year high in L.A. County—with religious hate crimes rising 11 percent.
One would think, in this new epoch of hyper-sensitivity, that casual slurs about a stranger’s religion would be “so last century.” Not so much. I’m an actor, and a big part of my life is auditioning for casting directors in the LA area.
Living in diverse Los Angeles, you would think bigotry is the last thing I’d have to worry about in my daily life, but it’s not. That’s because I’m a Scientologist, and for most of my life, the press has been engaged in an all-out attack against my religion .