ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes and tests new methods for gauging the incidence of hate crime and the population density of gay men and lesbians. Conceptualization of antigay hate crime presents thorny problems of its own. The study of hate crime—that is, criminal conduct motivated by prejudice—is fraught with measurement problems. In theory, if the latent variables "gay population density" and "antigay hate crime" are correlated, the parameters of the measurement model become estimable using confirmatory factor analysis. The relationship between hate crime and gay population density is a powerful one. The capacity to measure the population density of gay men and lesbians has far-ranging implications for policymaking and social science inquiry. Given the high correlation between population density and hate crime, knowledge of where gay men and lesbians live provides a map for law enforcement agencies and community organizations that seek to deter such incidents.
