Meanings in adult male victims' experiences of hate crime and its aftermath

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to describe gay men's experiences of hate crime and understand the meanings they attribute to it. Data were analyzed from individual interviews with seven gay men who recounted nine separate hate crimes. Participants perceived their hate crimes as homophobic acts of verbal harassment and violent assault targeted at silencing their identities, which they actively resisted. They perceived the aftermath as an extended period of time in which they lived with a heightened awareness of self, others, and the environment. This heightened awareness was reported to disrupt intimacy and social connectedness while they attempted to make meaning of their experiences and heal.