Since the late 1980s, there have been claims of a marked increase in violence directed against lesbians and gay men in various nations. Because these attacks have only very recently become a focus of police attention or researchers' interest, there can only be speculation about their real level of increase. It seems likely that the increased concern with this violence is a result of the efforts of activists themselves. Community research, protest rallies and other publicity have provided the catalyst for making homophobic violence into a public issue. At the same time another victim group is being formed and demanding further responsiveness from police and criminal justice systems. However, gays and lesbians must acknowledge the limits of the usefulness of any "politics of victimhood" if it is not tempered by broader educational campaigns promoting attitudinal changes to actually reduce levels of violence. Youths who have been arrested and tried for attacks on gays have acted out the gay-hating values that have been so thoroughly instilled in them by a heterosexist society. References