Well, the young guy in university who hates gays is afraid of them (whether he knows it or not). Mind you, he's also probably afraid of anyone who is much different from him. It's an instinctive reaction in people who are not very analytical thinkers by nature. They fear the unknown and the unusual. When a stupid person is afraid, he tends to resort to violence...the old "fight or flight" syndrome. If he's also afraid of what his peers will think of him if he doesn't openly act out his aggression, then he is ever more prone to violence. This is what leads young men to haze, harass, and beat up anyone whom they regard as outside the acceptable norm of their own peer group...and it has been the bane of "outsiders" of all types since time immemorial.

It was certainly the bane of my existence when I was in school, though I was not gay. I was just unconventional in a lot of other ways. I did not subscribe to the mainstream values. As such, I got more than my share of harassment from the stupidly conventional guys around me. They were out looking for targets of opportunity anyway. Gays are a spectacular target of opportunity for young male hell-raisers.