Responding to heterosexist hate : a gender critique of coalitionist strategies in NSW

Whilst the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project (AVP) continues to set benchmarks and to lead the field in the development of strategies to reduce hate-related violence against gays and lesbians in New South Wales, this paper seeks to show the ways in which these strategies and campaigns fail to adequately address differences in the experiences of gay men and lesbians. Using a sociological framework, combined with a feminist analysis, this paper will highlight the work of the AVP and how it focuses upon incidents of criminal, physical hatred (largely perpetrated against gay men), whilst leaving the harder cases of harassment, discrimination and hate speech silenced. In particular, this paper seeks to problematise the assumptions made about hate-related violence against lesbians in the AVP’s Homophobia. What are ya scared of? campaign, and its Count & Counter Report.