Anti-homosexual victimization reached a record high in 1987, with 7,008 incidents -- ranging from harassment to homicide -- reported to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force by 64 groups from 32 States and the District of Columbia. This represents an increase of 42 percent over the 4,496 incidents reported in 1986. These statistics represent only a very small fraction of the actual total. Violence surveys provided additional evidence of the pervasiveness of anti-gay violence and victimization. These increased reports of anti-gay violence coincide with widespread attacks on other minority groups and confirm reports from other sources that hate violence and bias crime are widespread and increasing. Incidents of anti-gay violence appear to be motivated by irrational fear and hatred, exacerbated by the aquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic, and the perception that gay people are easy targets who are unable to fight back and unwilling to report their victimization to police. Further, long-standing notions that gays are sick, sinful, or predatory have fostered hostility that leads to anti-gay violence and have slowed official recognition of and response to the problem. Specific incidents highlight the problem and factors contributing to it. 6 footnotes, 1 figure, and 2 tables.