MISSOULA -- Two recent instances of alleged anti-gay violence in Missoula have given three dozen local organizations incentive to hold a community rally aimed at promoting tolerance and awareness.

"Anti-gay assaults are happening, intimidation is happening, and we need to say something about it," said Sarah Katherine Brown, an editor for the Out Words publication.

Organized in part by the Western Montana Gay & Lesbian Community Center in Missoula, the event is happening Monday between 5 and 7 p.m at The Badlander.

Earlier this month, a 29-year-old Missoula woman was beaten by a group of four women who she said verbally assaulted her with homophobic remarks. That same weekend, a 22-year-old University of Montana student was attacked by four unknown men while crossing the campus footbridge. The victim was shoved to the ground and kicked repeatedly in the chest and back, police said, and his assailants screamed anti-gay epithets during the attack.

While those instances provided the impetus for the rally, Brown said the event is also timely because the FBI recently released its hate crimes statistics for 2006, which show an 8 percent increase in hate crimes nationally.

According to the report, hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the third most common type of hate crime, behind race and religion. In 2006, hate crimes based on sexual orientation made up nearly 16 percent of all such crimes, up from 14 percent in 2005.

The rally will feature political speakers, including state Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, who has proposed bills that would add gender, disability and sexual orientation to Montana's current hate crime statute.

"Hate crimes are really directed at an entire group of people, and their intent is to intimidate and terrorize more than just the immediate victim of the crime, but all people who fall into that category of identity," Kaufmann said. "It's important for communities to make clear this is not the type of activity that is condoned or tolerated."

Expanding Montana's hate crime statute would allow judges to dole out harsher sentences to those convicted of bias-based crimes, and might include ordering someone to participate in a restorative justice program, such as victim-offender mediation.

In the 2007 Montana legislative session, the measure was tabled in committee after it failed on a 7-5 vote.

According to the Missoula Police Department, current reports of hate and bias-based crimes against gay individuals are small in number. However, at a Nov. 13 LAMBDA focus group on hate crimes, just four out of 30 community members and students said they had not been affected by some sort of anti-gay harassment or assault, Brown said.

Brown said data meant to track hate crimes is often skewed and fails to capture the entire picture because hate crimes perpetrated against members of the gay community are under-reported.

Assistant Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir was on hand during the focus group meeting, and talked about the department's Missoula hate crime and bias incident report. The report allows someone who has experienced anti-gay violence or harassment to file a complaint anonymously.

While a victim would have to give his or her name for actual criminal charges to be filed, Muir said the reports generate statistics and alert police to problem areas in Missoula.

Brown said the goals of Monday's rally are to educate the community about hate crimes and how to report them to the Missoula police, as well as to encourage strength and solidarity within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community and their allies.

The rally will be interactive and participants are asked to bring a T-shirt to silkscreen. Two filmmakers will also pose questions about hate crimes and record the responses on camera.

"As a community, Missoula does not want hate," she said. "We do not want violence."