Exploring crimes against gays from 1999 to 2011, David McConnell shows how some think they're cleaning up society. Other killings feel preordained - not a matter of the victim's lifestyle so much as a twisted display of dominance. Society wants to think these stories are simple cases of sexual conflict. They aren't. Together, the cases form a secret American history of rage and desire. McConnell cuts through clich� and politics to turn these cases into enduring literature. In each story, victims, murderers, friends and relatives come breathtakingly alive.