Homophobia

I believe Vázquez waits to disclose the fact that the victims of the anti gay violence are, in fact, straight to make the reader realize that the crimes are committed against people that don't have the trait that the crimes are being committed against them for. It puts everyone on a level playing field... whether you are gay or not, you can be a victim of anti-gay violence, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. It also makes the reader realize that there really isn't much of a difference between people who are gay and people who are not... I believe that because it is still a very controversial subject that a lot of people are not well acquainted with, the choice to tell the reader that the victim was not gay adds an extra shock factor to someone who may not know what their beliefs around homosexuality stands, and will give an extra push in the argument against gay violence because people who are heterosexual and possibly uneducated about the whole issue will be able to relate to the victims even more and therefore adds to Vázquez's argument.