Lakeview's Boystown only started to be known as a gay destination in the early 1980s, when more gay bars and businesses opened along Halsted. The big problem at that time was "straight" young men coming into the area to target the "fags." The targets were not even always gay, they just had to look "different."There were several high-profile attacks in the area over the years, and some of these sparked community outrage and response.More... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-baim/boystown-violence-deja-vu_b_892319.html)