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K E N TU C K Y
n investigation by the Army’s inspector
general has cleared all the officers at Fort
Campbell of any blame in connection to the
murder last year of Pvt. Barry Winchell.
He was beaten to death with a baseball bat
by another soldier because he was thought to be
gay. Two men were convicted of the murder.
C BS News reports the investigation placed
the blame on Winchell’s first sergeant, who
since has been relieved of his duties, for allow
ing the harassment to take place. The report
also blamed a lack of training on what the
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy means.
Maj. Gen. Robert Clark, who commanded
Fort Campbell at the time of W inchell’s murder,
said: “There is not, nor has there ever been dur
ing my time here, a climate of homophobia on
post. The climate here is one that promotes just
the opposite, respect for all.”
Winchell’s mother, Pat Kut-
teles, voiced her concern
months ago. “There has been
nobody that has been held
accountable for the Army’s
part in the harassment and
the lack of safety."
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LOCALLY
W E S T V IR G IN IA
he U .S. Justice Department has opened a
X. preliminary investigation into the killing of
Arthur “J.R .” Warren, a black gay man from
Grant Town.
Various media sources report Deputy
Attorney General Eric Holder met in July
with family members and
friends o f W arren’s and
representatives of civil
rights and gay rights
groups. T h e Justice De
partm ent’s civil rights
division will conduct the
investigation with the FBI and
the U .S. attorney’s office in W heeling.
Two white 17-year-olds have been charged
with the murder of Warren, 26. According to
authorities, the suspects beat him to death, then
ran over his body with a car to make the inci
dent look like a hit-and-run.
Although many think the murder was a hate
crime, Marion County Sheriff Ron Watkins and
Prosecutor G . Richard Bunner have insisted
hate was not a factor. Bunner has not yet decid
ed whether to try the two suspects as adults.
Officials with the Justice Department said
they doubt federal law would apply to the case.
■ Com piled by KRISTINE CHATWOOD, a Portland-
based free-lance uniter and longtime Just Out
contributor.
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judge in New Brunswick has ordered Wal-
Mart to pay more than $2 million to a for
mer cashier who was harassed and fired after a
boss learned he was undergoing a male-to-
female sex change, The Associated Press report
ed July 18.
Ricky Bourdouvales, 27, filed a lawsuit last
May against the retailing giant, alleging it vio
lated New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws by
firing him in January 1999. W hen Wal-Mart
failed to respond, attorney Mark Stanton sent it
a notice in June that his client intended to seek
a default judgment.
Again, the company did not respond. In
addition to the $2 million in punitive damages,
Bourdouvales was awarded $100,000 in com
pensatory damages and legal fees.
A spokesman for W al-M art’s corporate
headquarters said the retailer will request that
the judge vacate the award. He said the compa
ny knew a document had been served in May
but did not realize what it was.
According to Bourdouvales, who dresses as a
woman, the Piscataway Wal-Mart had no prob
lem when everyone thought he was a woman.
T h e trouble began when a store manager
reviewed his job application and noticed the
box “male” was checked.
W hen asked about it, Bourdouvales revealed
he was undergoing a sex change. After that, he
said, the harassment and discrimination began.
Eventually, Bourdouvales was fired. A Wal-
Mart spokesman said the dismissal was for “mis
conduct.”
* *
-1 I
CAMPAIGN
on’t the real Dick Cheney please
stand up?”
That’s the question on the minds of lib
erals everywhere after Texas Gov.
George W. Bush formally offered the
Republican vice presidential nomina
tion to his father’s former defense
secretary, an ultra-right-winger with
an openly lesbian daughter.
The Human Rights Campaign
issued a report July 25 examining
Cheney’s record on gay and A ID S
issues. Its conclusion: Like his running
mate, he seeks to package an extreme-
Dick
ly conservative record with a moderate image.
During the Bush administration, Cheney
supported Pete Williams, the Defense Depart
ment’s chief spokesman, when The Advocate
revealed his homosexuality.
“I have operated on the basis over the years
with respect to my personal staff that I don’t
ask them about their private lives,” he said.
“As long as they perform their professional
responsibilities in a responsible manner, their
private lives are their business.”
However, Cheney opposed President C lin
ton s effort to lift the ban on gays serving
openly in the military.
“I am one of those people who believes
that people’s sexual preference and orienta
tion are a private matter,” he told CNN in
1993. “It’s something that is a personal matter
2000
★ ★
for them and no one else’s business. And that’s
the way 1 ran the civilian side of the Penta
g o n .... O n the military side, though, you
can’t pursue that policy."
Later in the interview, Cheney
said, “I basically don’t believe in dis
crimination, but I did conclude, as
secretary of defense, that the ban on
gays in uniform was appropriate."
A t the Republican National
Convention in Philadelphia, gay
attention focused on his daughter,
Mary. She hasn’t yet spoken to the
Cheney
media, but plenty of activists and
reporters were talking about her.
“We understand they love each other very
much,” H RC spokesman David Smith said.
“...T h e crux of it is, it’s going to focus atten
tion on Bush’s anti-gay policy positions, and
Cheney is going to look quite mean if he
comes out and says: ‘Yeah, I support a law that
bans my daughter from adopting a child. I
don’t support a law that would protect my
daughter from discrimination.’ ”
The Democratic National Committee was
quick to label Bush-Cheney as “one of the
most anti-choice tickets in our nation’s histo
ry” and “the all-oil ticket.” Cheney is the chief
executive officer of the Halliburton Co., a
publicly traded company that supplies equip
ment to the oil industry.
— Jim Radosta