Anti-gay-bashing group: Our reports are worthless

I don't know how else to interpret today's press release by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. The group reports a drop in violence against gays and lesbians (described as a decrease "over" the previous year's level), then tells us not to believe it:

There were 3,534 reported incidents of domestic violence affecting LGBT individuals in 2006, a decrease of 15% over incidents recorded in the 2005 report. However, this decrease does not necessarily indicate that LGBT domestic violence is declining. Numerous factors influence whether or not a victim of domestic violence will seek help through an organization or a hotline, including visibility of the local organization, fears on the part of the victim of being "outed," and fear of bringing shame to ones family or community. Additionally, individual organizational capacity and ability to participate in this report shift somewhat from year to year which could also account for the numerical difference.

The global-warming denialists could learn a lot from the NCAVP. It's always possible to explain away data, even when it's your own!