MARCH 24, 1995

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 9

SPEAK OUT

Homophobia killed this man, not trash-TV 'humiliation'

by Robin Kane

On Thursday, March 9, a gay man named Scott Amedure was shot to death while he stood unarmed in the doorway of his trailer home in the Detroit suburb of Orion Township. The accused and confessed murderer, John Schmitz, is an acquaintance of Amedure's. Schmitz had appeared on the Jenny Jones talk show with Amedure just three days earlier, when Amedure acknowledged that he had a crush on his straight male acquaintance.

Contrary to mainstream media coverage

of this event, "surprise," "humiliation" and the Jenny Jones show did not lead to Amedure's murder. Instead, it is the rampant homophobia of this culture that is at the root of this murder.

Yes, talk shows are increasingly exploitative, with each show upping the ante for drama and surprises. In their thirst for ratings, talk show producers often ignore the real life implications of the drama they create. The producers of this program certainly did not consider the all-too-real drama of anti-gay bigotry that would quickly lead to Scott Amedure's murder. These shows need

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those not familiar with it, centers around the investigation of a black army division and the murder of their captain during World War II. As I was drawn into the stories of the people involved, along with the tragic story of the captain himself, I saw, in their anguish, a mirror image of what I see in some facets of the gay and lesbian community today.

The captain is a no-nonsense, hard-working and hard fighting man who represents the struggle of black people to overcome stereotypes and find a place in the white man's world. As today, some choose to identify strongly with their heritage and others feel they have to adopt white ways to succeed. The captain was out to do the latter.

There are no easy answers here, and if anyone saw the recent 60 Minutes segment on language and race, you know it is possible to hold on to your heritage but also agree to the terms of the larger society. However, people differ in what they feel is "selling out."

Well here we are in the gay and lesbian community, struggling with similiar issues. Are you "really" gay or lesbian if you don't believe in Wicca, worship a goddess, agree with certain politics or dress a certain way? Which way is right: to adopt a radical gay and lesbian style and culture to affirm our “identity," or to "pass" so that straight people understand that we are not so much different as similiar? (Some of us feel a radical style doesn't fit us anyway.)

Neither the questions or the answers that each of us come to are right or wrong. However there comes a point to when we seem to allow our differences to destroy us, as happened to the captain in A Soldier's Story. He didn't just ask the questions and decide the answers for himself, he imposed his decision on his men and persecuted and attacked those who did not fit the image of what he felt would further the black man's place in the world. He also destroyed himself, ultimately, by evoking destruction and hate by his intolerance and his actions.

It is certainly not wrong to die for a cause, but it seems to me that those who made the most impact (and still do), make that impact with positive, compassionate and constructive actions. Those communities that cause the most loyalty and create the most good are those that truly embrace everyone-all people, wherever they are at in their journey and however they choose to express who they are, as long, of course, as that isn't a dictate for someone else.

My church is such a community. As an example, when a child is baptized, he or she is baptized at a regular mass. We all take our vows with the parents and sing as the water is poured over the child's head. At the end of the mass the priest holds the child up to us, in front of the congregation, and says, “I now introduce to you (child's name),” and hundreds of us clap.

My dream is to see the gay and lesbian community become that way. Embracing. Not separated into white and black, male and female, straight and gay. We of all people should know better and be an example to others for all that we have endured, instead of going the way of the captain in A Soldier's Story.

Susanne Sands Richmond Heights

The Gay 90's with Buck Harrie on WHK 1420AM

has moved to Sunday night from 10:00 to 11:00

to seriously evaluate their surprise tactics and should refrain from creating volatile situations.

The Oakland County sheriff's department, the county prosecutor on the case and the media are all pointing to the "surprise" and "humiliation" of the accused murderer to explain the incident. A sheriff's lieutenant told the press that the public revelation of a gay man's crush had "eaten away" at Schmitz. The county prosecutor who is responsible for pursuing charges against Schmitz aimed most of his vitriol during a March 10 news confer⚫ence not at the accused murderer, but at the Jenny Jones show.

According to that prosecutor, Amedure is dead because of Shmitz's "humiliation." Friends of Schmitz are quoted throughout press reports discussing Schmitz's embarrassment that a gay man had a crush on him. Wire stories, the Washington Post and a commentary on National Public Radio all focused enormous space on the humiliation and the hysteria of talk shows. The New York Times ran a March 12 story under the headline, "Fatal Shooting Follows Surprise on TV Talk Show" with a fuller story two days later headlined, “After Killing, Hard Questions for Talk Shows."

Why is it that the sheriff's department, the county prosecutor and the media seem to fully understand Schmitz's confessed feelings of humiliation without any real discussion of its cause? Is it because Schmitz was not interested in the person who expressed having a crush on him? Certainly not. Every woman in this country has at some time experienced unwanted interest from a group of men on a street corner. Is it, then, because the person who expressed interest in Schmitz is of a different sexual orientation than Schmitz? No, not really. As a lesbian, I

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navigate my way through the world without buying a shotgun and using it on straight men who merely express attraction.

The sole reason that everyone is discussing Sshmitz's "humiliation" with such ease is that homophobia is so rampant in this culture. It does not need to be directly stated. It is just a given that Schmitz would feel humiliated, according to the media and officials.

One man was embarrassed, another man was shot twice in the chest with a shotgun. Surprise, humiliation and embarrassment are no excuse for murder. While the media focus their attention on the hysteria of talk shows or the uncomfortable feelings of the assailant, the actual murder of Scott Amedure is nearly lost.

This tragedy highlights the deadly nature of homophobia in our society. That anyone should be killed simply for being gay is deplorable. Sadly, the murder of Scott Amedure is not an isolated incident. Last year, 59 gay and lesbian individuals are known to have lost their lives in bias-motivated murders. None of them followed a taping of a talk show, but they are equally dead becuase of homophobia.

Rather than wringing their hands over Schmitz's so-called humiliation, elected officials, public leaders and the media should use this opportunity to aggressively condemn and confront anti-gay bigotry and violence, which are at the root of Scott Amedure's death. A different headline, if true-"After Killing, Anti-Gay Bigotry Roundly Condemned" could have helped prevent future incidents.

Robin Kane is the director of public information of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

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