Sorry but from experience, homosexuels didn’t get beat on just because they were queer.
We made fun of the few known homosexuels in out school(rather rural redneck school, btw) But no punches ever got thrown. None.
I suspect these gay attacks are from dates or would be dates that go sideways and the aggressor was the one who feelings got hurt.
Don’t believe gays get beat up any more than pencil necked geeks,nerds, dweebs, or jocks or rednecks do.
They just squill more.
People get beaten or killed for a lot of things in places outside the majority culture. Why wouldn’t being a geek, a nerd, a dweeb or a homosexual be one reason?