gay people's

HRO N I

Clayt

JANUARY 1989

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 7

LE

CLEVELAND, OHIO

A Chronicle of the Lesbian & Gay Community

Judge gives shorter sentence for killing gays

by Sandy Dwyer

Texas state judge Jack Hampton made front page news in the Dallas Times Herald December 16, when he told them that he gave a more lenient sentence to an 18-year-old convicted murderer because the victims were gay. The statements have also provoked the traditionally quiet Dallas gay and lesbian community into taking protest actions against Hampton.

The Herald quoted Hampton as saying that the men wouldn't have been killed "if they hadn't been cruising the streets picking up teenage boys. ...I put prostitutes and gays at about the same level and I'd be hard put to give somebody life for killing a prostitute." Hampton was also quoted as saying, "I don't care much for queers cruising the

streets. I've got a teenage boy." Hampton told the Herald, "Just spell my name right. If it makes anybody mad, they'll forget it by 1990." In Texas, judges are elected, not appointed.

The murder trial concluded November 15 with the sentencing of Richard Lee Bednarski to 30 years in prison instead of the life sentence requested by the prosecution. Bednarski was found guilty of the shooting deaths of two gay men, Tommy Lee Trimble, 34, and John Lloyd Griffin, 27. According to testimony at the trial, Bednarski, and other youths who were standing on a street corner with friends, were invited to get into the car driven by Trimble and Griffin. Bednarski and another youth did get into the car, and when they reached a secluded area of a local park, Bednarski ordered

the gay men to remove their clothes. When they refused, he pulled a pistol and began firing. There was no evidence presented that the men had made any sexual overtures to Bednarski or his friend.

While the murders themselves did not receive a great deal of media attention, Hampton's remarks to the Herald in explaining his sentence did. The story hit the wire services and was picked up by the radio and television media as well as numerous papers throughout the nation.

According to present and former residents of Texas, such statements by public officials are not unexpected and reflect the general climate of oppression that exists in the state. Tom Coleman, legal director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian

Community Services Center, is a Fort Worth native and said that Dallas is especially oppressive of their gay and lesbian residents. Coleman said that he received a telephone call from the Herald for his reaction. He found it interesting that that they were soliciting comments from lesbians and gay men around the country, but were not seeking comments from the Dallas mayor or city council.

Coleman said that there is an extremely large gay and lesbian population in Dallas, but that the majority were closeted. "They are a beleagured and besieged lesbian and gay community," he said.

Yet in spite of that, there has been more of a reaction in Dallas than many had expected. National Coming Continued on Page 3.

Chronicle recognizes service to community

Dale Melsness by Tracy Mille.

The following article describes the accomplishments of two outstanding individuals in our community. Judy Rainbrook and Dale Melsness have been chosen as this year's recipients of the Chronicle's Community Service Awards. The awards ceremony will be held at the Lesbian-Gay Community Center on January 14 at 8 p.m., and a $5

Judith Rainbrook

donation will be collected by the Chronicle to help with operating costs.

During the years that she has been living in Cleveland, Judy Rainbrook has changed careers "about 14 times." Graduating from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee with a B.S. in early childhood education, Judy spent a total of one year in the teaching field. From there she began working at

Akron man appeals conviction

On Nov. 7, 1988, Duane Miller of Akron, Ohio, and three other men were found guilty in the Barberton Municipal Court of public indecency, a fourth degree misdemeanor. The four had been arrested three months earlier, on August 7, at the Loyal Oaks Swim & Health Club in Norton, Ohio, near Akron.

This past summer the club had been advertising facilities for nude swimming in Metra, a Detroit-based gay publication. Admission required

the purchase of a private membership and was limited to Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

According to Miller, he and three other men had been relaxing in an outdoor hot tub just prior to their arrests. Shortly after they stepped from the tub and covered themselves with towels, local police arrived and arrested them for public indecency. Miller asserts none of them had engaged in a flagrant or reckless

Anti-lesbian shooting

On October 27, Adams County, Pennsylvania Judge Oscar Spicer convicted Stephen Roy Carr of first-degree murder in a shooting that killed Rebecca Wight and critically wounded her lover, Claudia Brenner. In a move praised by Brenner, the gay community and victim advocates, the judge also excluded as inadmissable any arguments by the defense that the victims' sexual orientation and behavior provoked the attack.

On May, 13, the two women were fired upon at their Appalachian

Continued on Page 3.

Trail campsite by Stephen Roy Carr, whose attorney claimed in a preliminary hearing that Brenner and Wight "provoked" the attack by performing sexual acts in front of him, and otherwise teased him. While acknowledging that she and Wight had made love at the campsite, Brenner insisted they both thought they were alone, and described the accusation that they provoked the attack as "not only untrue but insulting." In a statement released to the press, Brenner asserted that Continued on Page 5.

the Mental Health Unit for the City of Cleveland, where she was involved in overseeing funding for drug and alcohol treatment programs. After four years in this administrative role, Judy became employed in her own home repair business.

After almost two years at this vocation, Judy went to work at the Cleveland Women's Counsel, which was founded as an abortion counseling service before the Roe v. Wade decision. After several years she joined the Board of Trustees and helped with the transition from a collective to a more traditionally organized group under the name of Divorce Equity. During this period Judy was involved with the lesbian support group D.Y.K.E. (Dykes Your Know Everywhere) and founded Oven Productions with Susan Woodworth.

A combination of factors then led Judy to take a break from her involvement in the women's community. What she describes as a "pit period" in her life can be attributed to problems within Divorce Equity surrounding the issues of power within a collective, as well as the general lack of resources for

women.

These struggles, in combination with several deaths in her family, led Judy to put all of her energies into work. She became interested in the field of electronics, as it was a relatively new area and had not yet become terribly difficult for women to enter. After some schooling, she was employed in that area for nine years, five of which she spent fixing computers. During her last four years, she

was engaged as a systems engineer, which involved her in the sales aspect of computers.

After realizing that sales was definitely not for her, Judy started working for a research and writing firm. This job offers constant change, and Judy will become a partner in January.

When asked about the impetus which got her back into the community after a three-year break, Judy explains that her gay brother in San Francisco made the observation that while he had several lesbian friends, she had no gay male friends.

This prompted Judy to volunteer to work at the Lesbian-Gay Hotline. She suspected that there was something wrong when it took her six weeks to get in to work. On her first day, she was fortunate enough to meet Aubrey Wertheim, the Center's director, with whom she immediately clicked. When she explained to him the difficulty she had experienced in getting in to help, Aubrey went to the Board of Trustees and got the problem resolved.

Because of her background in organizational work, Judy was asked to serve on the Board. The Center was in obvious need of help, and Judy's experience both with collectives and traditionally organized groups made her an ideal choice.

After joining the Board, Judy learned about its "fairly alarming" history: the combination of interpersonal problems and lack of organizational experience that made the group unable to maintain any kind of Continued on Page 5.

"As Is" to benefit HIT

On January 15 and 22, the Health Issues Taskforce, in conjunction with the Cleveland Play House, will present afternoon and evening benefit performances of the award winning play As Is.

Written by gay playwright William Hoffman, the play examines the experiences of a gay man living with AIDS and his relationships with his former lover, family and friends. Regarded by many as the best play written about AIDS, As Is received a Drama Desk award, an Obie award for drama and three Tony nominations for drama in 1985.

Proceeds from the four performances at the Play House, 8500 Euclid Ave., will benefit direct services and education programs of HIT.

Tickets for the 2:30 matinees are $20. This includes coffee and dessert with As Is director Michael Breault after the performance. Tickets for the 7:30 shows are $35 and $60. Sponsor tickets ($35) include free parking and a post-performance reception with Breault. The $60 patron tickets include the above and a discussion with the director before the play, preferred seating and program acknowledgement.

Tickets are on sale at the Cleveland Play House, and can be purchased in person or by phone at 7957000. Enjoy an evening of theatre, community and discussion by supporting a worthy cause. For more information, call HIT at 621-0766.