Teasing to blame
for man opening
fire in gay bar
By Kia Shant’e Breaux
Associated Press Writer
ROANOKE, Va. — When Ronald
Edward Gay was growing up in
Canada, “gay” meant happy.
But when he entered the U.S.
Marine Corps during the Vietnam
era, his comrades taunted him
about his last name and suggested
he was homosexual. And when he
would hear the word “gay” used to
refer to homosexuals, he would
bristle.
It was that teasing — coupled,
apparently, with a series of person
al crises, including a recent di
vorce and a fire at his home — that
prompted Gay to open fire in a gay
bar Friday night, police and rela
tives say.
A gay man was killed and six
others, some of whom were not
homosexual, were wounded.
Police said Gay, 54, told investi
gators he committed the crime be
cause he was tired of being teased
about his last name.
Gay was jailed without bail. A
public defender was appointed for
him, but his name was not imme
diately released.
According to Gay’s brother,
William, Gay hated the name and
the taunting. He was also upset
that at least two of his three sons
changed their last names.
“Maybe they didn’t want the
persecution over that name, too,”
said William Gay, 51. “I think that
kind of hurt him, too, them chang
ing their names.”
William Gay also said his broth
er didn’t like that his fifth ex-wife,
Laura Ramsey, had experimented
with a lesbian relationship before
they were married. But Ramsey,
who lives in Citrus Springs, Fla.,
said she was up front with her for
mer husband and he didn’t seem
bothered.
“I tried an alternative lifestyle. It
was not my cup of tea,” she said.
“He knew it before he married me
and it was not a problem.”
Ramsey said she never got the
sense that Gay was homophobic
and noted that he would talk to her
gay friends at parties. But she did
recall her former husband making
a point of commenting when the
word “gay” was used on television
to describe homosexuals.
“He would say, ‘They’re using
my name,’” Ramsey said. “He nev
er said it meant anything to him
personally.”
A man who answered the phone
at the house of Gay’s mother and
identified himself only as Gay’s
stepfather said he recalled a time
when Gay got dressed up and said
he was going to the White House
to ask the president why the word
gay was associated with homosex
uals. He never made the trip.
In any case, much more than a
name troubled Gay. In a little more
than a year, he and Ramsey had di
vorced, he scorched his legs in a
brush-burning accident and’a fire
destroyed.
Gay also told family members he
was not able to get medicine he
needed for the post-traumatic
stress disorder that plagued him
since he returned from Vietnam
War. His family knew he had men
tal problems and expected some
thing to go wrong, perhaps a sui
cide.
“I can’t help but to think about
all those innocent people. If he’d
just done away with himself it
would’ve been better,” William
Gay said in a telephone interview
from his home in Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia, where Ronald Gay grew up.
Their father, Cecil Gay, died in
1966 when Gay was in boot camp.
Their mother remarried and lives
in the Canadian province of
Saskatchewan. Gay served one
tour of duty in Vietnam and re
turned in 1969.
“He had a lot of flashbacks,”
William Gay said. “He was a gun
ner protecting convoys. One day a
truck blew up and his buddies
were on it. He was in charge of
picking up body parts. He always
said it was just his job and he had
to do it, but I know it bothered
him.”
Gay also had been treated at sev
eral veterans hospitals for post
traumatic stress disorder, William
Gay said.
“If only someone would have
gotten to him before. The signs
were there,” William Gay said.
On Friday, Gay checked into a
downtown motel. He met Kay
Lawrence and Pete Glover, who
rented a room next door.
“He introduced himself as
Ronald Edward Gay, but said, ‘I’m
not gay like my name sounds,”’
Lawrence said.
Gay drank whiskey all day and
chatted with his new friends. That
night, he gave Glover the key to his
room and told him if he wasn’t
back by morning, Glover could
have everything in his room. He
told the couple he was going out to
get “a Big Mac and watch some
fireworks.” He also instructed
them to watch the 8 a.m. news if
he didn’t return.
“He looked and me and winked
and grinned,” Lawrence said.
According to police, a man went
to a tavern Friday night and asked
directions to the nearest gay bar.
An employee of the tavern pointed
the way. Then the man showed a
gun and told the employee he
wanted to shoot gays. The employ
ee called police.
By the time officers began look
ing for the gunman, a bearded man
wearing a black trench coat had
entered the Backstreet Cafe, or
dered a beer, then calmly stood up
and fired at least eight shots from a
9 mm handgun. Minutes later, Gay
was arrested and charged with
murder.
William Gay said his brother vis
ited the Vietnam Veterans Memori
al in Washington last spring,
which brought back a lot of bad
memories. He blames the treat
ment of veterans for the shooting at
the bar.
“They try to come back and fit ^
into society, but they can’t because
they’ve seen so much,” he said. “If
they don’t get proper treatment
and the government doesn’t look
after them properly, you’ll have
more of this.”
Associated Press writer Pat Leisner in Tam
pa, Fla., contributed to this report.
ODE itoriei ore archived on-line at www.doilyemerald.com
Students Receive 8% discount
on all items except sale items
• classes beginning to intermediate
• fine qualify yarns, needles & accessories
• patterns, magazines and hooks
2821 Oak Street (in Southtowne Shops)
484-0430
o M-F, 10am-7pm,
§ Sat., 10am-5pm, Sun, 2pm-4:.30pm
# Oregon daily emerald
WORLDWIDE
www.dailytMnerald.com
This paper can be
Recycled!
On hundreds of thousands of items
,ovoc?
,r\c®s
Clothes
starting at
990
Furniture, appliances,
beds, & cars too
Eugene Stores
I 10 E. I Ith 344-2115
1880 W. 11 th 683-8284
2345 W. Broadway 345-0595
705 S. Seneca 345-8036
2699 Roosevelt 689-1695
Springfield Stores
501 Main St. 747-5811
2289 Olympic St. 747-8365
▼ . —-1
RETIREMENT I N 5 U R A N C E M U T U A L F U N D 5 TRUST SERVICES T U I T I 0 N FI N A N C! N G
Why is TIAA-CREF the
#1 choice nationwide?
The TIAA-CREF j
Advantage.
Year in and year out, employees at education and
research institutions have turned to TIAA-CREF.
And for good reasons:
• Easy diversification among a range of expertly
managed funds
• A solid history of performance and exceptional
personal service
• A strong commitment to low expenses
• Plus, a full range of flexible retirement income options
For decades, TIAA-CREF has helped professors and staff
at over 9,000 campuses across the country invest for—
and enjoy—successful retirements.
Choosing your retirement plan provider is simple.
Go with the leader: TIAA-CREF
THE TIAA-CREF
ADVANTAGE
Investment Expertise
Low Expenses
Customized
Payment Options
Expert Guidance
Ensuring the future
for those who shape it."
1.800.842.2776
www.tiaa-cref.org
For more complete information on our securities products, please call 1 800.842.2733, ext. 5509, to request prospectuses. Read them carefully
before you invest. • TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services, Inc. distributes the CREF and TIAA Real Estate variable annuities. • Teachers
Personal Investors Services, Inc. distributes the Personal Annuities variable annuity component, mutual funds and tuition savings agreements. •
TIAA and TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co., New York, NY, issue insurance and annuities. • TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB provides trust services.
• Investment products are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not bank guaranteed. © 2000 TIAA-CREF 08/03