We interviewed 450 of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual participants in our large-scale questionnaire study. About one-third of them told us that they had been the victim of a crime or attempted crime based on their sexual orientation, and we asked them about their experiences.

What follows is a description of the varieties of hate crime victimization described by the men and women in the sample. When necessary, we have edited the transcripts slightly for clarity and to protect the identities of respondents.

The anecdotes related by interviewees are not necessarily representative of the victimization experiences of all gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. But they illustrate some of the forms taken by antigay attacks, and the variety of people who perpetrate such attacks.

The details of our methodology and complete results are reported in our paper, "Victim Experiences in Hate Crimes Based on Sexual Orientation," published in 2002 in the Journal of Social Issues (a preprint can be downloaded from this site).

Consistent with previous research, many interviewees described antigay crimes perpetrated by groups of strangers in proximity to a gay-identified venue. The severity of such attacks ranged from harassment and threats to physical assault and, in the case of one interviewee, the murder of a friend.

The story told by one lesbian was typical of many incidents described by interviewees.

Some victims suffered assault but were not seriously injured. One respondent, for example, described being followed by a truck as he walked home one night from a gay bar.

This man's story highlights the fear associated with such an experience. Most likely, he was aware that antigay incidents often end in serious injury or even death for the victim. During the crime, he could not know that only one of the truck's occupants would attack him or that he would be struck with an egg rather than a more lethal weapon. Thus, despite the absence of serious physical harm, the attack evoked considerable fear. Because fears of serious injury and death during a crime are associated with the degree of psychological trauma it inflicts, even seemingly minor incidents can have a negative aftermath for the victim.

Another man and his friend were approached by two strangers as they left a gay bar. Sensing trouble, they hurried to their car and locked the doors.

Other victims were not so fortunate. According to the respondent who described the preceding incident, the same men returned to the bar one week later and "got somebody else."

Another man described an attack as he arrived at a gay bar.

Many attacks caused serious injury or had deadly consequences. One man described how he was assaulted and his friend was murdered while visiting a Southern city.

Going to a gay-identified establishment carries the risk of verbal harassment, vandalism, and physical assault. However, the interviews also made it clear that any public space is potentially dangerous. One woman, for example, described her experience in a public park with a group of women friends when three men walked past and harassed them.

A man described his experience while jogging near a river, wearing a singlet with a lavender triangle emblem.

Another woman was harassed while riding her bicycle one afternoon.

In these situations, the victims were not in a gay-identified setting but their sexual orientation was assumed by the perpetrators on the basis of contextual cues. The woman in the park was with a group of women, the jogger was wearing a singlet with a gay symbol on it, and the bicyclist was wearing a shirt with the word "lesbian" prominently displayed. Their experiences suggest that, although gay venues are often sites of attacks, being identified as gay or bisexual in any public setting carries a risk.

Nor is one's home a safe refuge. Many interviewees had their house, car, or other personal property stolen, vandalized, or destroyed in antigay incidents. One man described the events on a day when he and his lover were leaving on a fishing trip.

Another woman described a similar act of vandalism.

In some cases, the incident was part of an ongoing pattern of harassment. One woman described a series of incidents perpetrated by neighbors.

Another woman had a similar experience.

Several respondents described having their property vandalized after they made a public gesture that identified them as gay. One woman, for example, flew rainbow and American flags outside her house but one day

In other cases, respondents were threatened and harassed after they had been publicly identified with a local gay or lesbian event or organization. One man, for example, received threatening telephone calls after his name was published as a contact for the gay student organization on his campus.

Some incidents were potentially deadly. One man described having his house fire bombed and the windows smashed on two of the family cars.

Middle and secondary schools routinely are sites of harassment for students who are gay or deviate from gender norms. One interviewee related how he had been the target of ongoing antigay harassment in his high school. Late one night, he went to a convenience store to buy milk for the family's breakfast. He saw two classmates in the store's parking lot.

He escaped into the store. When he asked the clerk to phone the police, the clerk refused.

Such harassment occurs in college as well. One respondent and his lover experienced ongoing harassment on campus.

The story also illustrates the stresses that such harassment places on the victims. In this case, that stress had a negative impact on the victims' relationship. According to the interviewee:

Most descriptions of crime on the job came from women respondents working in historically male settings. For example, one woman described how she was harassed and her car was vandalized with anti-lesbian graffiti while she was training to become a police officer. Another woman related her experiences in the Army after her sergeant read some love letters written to her by another woman.

Family members, friends, and acquaintances also were perpetrators of harassment and violence. Several women described incidents in which a male acquaintance or friend sexually assaulted them, sometimes after a failed attempt to seduce them. Many reported that their attacker seemed to be trying to prove that the woman was actually bisexual or simply needed the right man in order to become heterosexual.

One woman, for example, described what happened when, during dinner with a male former school friend, she refused his sexual invitation.

In other cases, a former husband or male partner attacked a woman, seeking revenge for his perceived rejection by the victim.

Parents and siblings also were perpetrators. One man recounted being accosted by his father and brother after they overheard him talking to his mother about his weekend:

A woman described what happened after her mother read her diary, which included details about her sexual involvement with another woman.

We thank Robyn Caruso and David Webb for their special assistance with coding and analyzing the interview narratives. For their invaluable contributions to the project, we also sincerely thank the following individuals:

• Jennifer Lyle
• Camille Barber
• Rebecca Blanton
• Aaron Carruthers
• Mary Ellen Chaney
• Yancey Cuyugan
• Gricelda Espinoza
• Fred Fead
• Gregory Gadwood
• Adela Gayton
• Eric Glunt
• Gisi Gonzales
• Rebecca Hill
• Kim Lasdon
• Gerardo Medina
• Kyle Pham
• Clarmundo Sullivan
• Paula Urtecho
• David Welton

Complete results from the interviews are published in the Journal of Social Issues (2002, volume 58, #2, pp. 319-339). A preprint of that paper can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat format. (Requires Adobe Acrobat reader, version 5, which can be downloaded free of charge).
 

Blog   |   Contents   |   Publications   |   Library   |   Site Search   |   Contact Us   |   Useful Links   |   Social Psych Net