Reply #28: there are a couple of answers to why someone would

[sui generis]

hang out and look.

1. Genuine curiosity, not sexual at all.
2. Sexual curiosity but no idea whatsoever of what "the rules" are. Sitting there where people can see you lets them take the initiative to talk, but also ruins the "fantasy" since we can be equally predatory.
3. Predatory curiosity - evaluating which one they think they can roll. Those guys are usually not alone, or parked.

All in all, without "blaming the victim" there are many common sense things we can do to reduce that chance of violence happening. Speaking of bars though, being buzzed really can lower inhibitions and erase judgement and common sense. The world is full of predators, punctuated by a few nice people.

People who are so far out of reality they think they are actually "justified" in attacking someone for being gay are in fact really dangerous people to everyone, not just gays.

That's what hate crimes legislation is supposed to accommodate; not just for the sake of pure punishment but to get those people away from the rest of us. "crimes of passion" are a ridiculous way to split that hair. Crazy is crazy.