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Billy Jack Gaither |
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Billy Jack Gaither |
Billy Jack Gaither, 39, was killed Feb. 19 by two men who claimed to have killed the man because of his sexual orientation.
S Y L A C A
U G A, Ala., March 5 — Friends say
Billy Jack Gaither didn’t deny being gay, but he also didn’t flaunt his
sexuality around his hometown, a quiet textile community in central Alabama.
Police said Thursday that two men who claimed to
be angry over a sexual advance by Gaither plotted his murder, beat the
39-year-old man to death with an ax handle and then burned his body on a pyre
of old tires.
“He was a good person. He didn’t deserve this,” said
Donna McKee, a waitress at a bar Gaither frequented on weekends.
Steven Mullins, 25, and Charles Butler Jr., 21, were
arrested this week and charged with murder. They were each held on $500,000
bail.
Memories
of Another Slaying
The case reminded gay rights groups of the brutal slaying of Matthew Shepard
last October in Wyoming. The college student died following a beating near
Laramie that police said was motivated in part because he was gay.
“There are a lot of people still out there who believe
gay and lesbian people are a threat,” said Bruce Steele, editor of The
Advocate, a news magazine for gays and lesbians. “Until that is educated
away, these sorts of things will continue to happen.”
Alabama is one of 19 states with hate-crime laws that
don’t cover offenses related to sexual orientation. The charges against Mullins
and Butler carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. A grand jury could indict
the men on charges punishable by death.
Mullins and Butler, who apparently knew Gaither from
going to the same bars, claimed the textile mill worker made a pass at them in
early February, Deputy Al Bradley said. The two then plotted his murder, the
deputy said.
Mullins telephoned Gaither and the two picked up
Butler at a nightclub where he was participating in a pool tournament,
authorities said.
Victim
Beaten, Corpse Burned
The men went to a secluded boat ramp, where Gaither was beaten and thrown in
the trunk of his own car. Gaither was taken to the banks of Peckerwood Creek,
where many area churches used to hold baptisms.
Bradley said two tires were set on fire with kerosene
atop a concrete platform overlooking the slow-moving water.
“They took him out of the trunk, took an ax handle and
beat him to death. Then they put the body on the fire,” said Bradley.
Gaither’s burned-out car was found the next day on a
country road.
Butler’s stepmother today said Butler had told family
members he was involved in the killing. But Butler placed much of the blame on
Mullins, saying he believed they were only going to beat up Gaither, Terry
Butler said.
Friends
Don’t Believe Suspects’ Story
Friends of Gaither’s said they did not believe he would make a sexual advance
on the men.
“He didn’t ever put anybody in (an awkward) position,”
said Marian Hammonds, who owns the nightclub where Ms. McKee works.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama learned of the
Feb. 19 killing through a contact in the area and notified authorities,
complying with a request to keep the slaying quiet so as not to interfere in
the investigation.
“We wanted to make certain it was not one of those
things that would be swept under the rug,” said David White, the group’s state
coordinator.
State Rep. Alvin Holmes has filed a bill that would
extend Alabama’s hate-crime laws to cover gays. Holmes said he was moved to
file the bill by the Shepard slaying.
March 13, 1999
IF EVER there were a reason for
toughening up hate-crime laws, the gruesome deaths of Billy Jack Gaither and
Matthew Shepard make the case.
Mr. Gaither made sexual
advances toward a man whose response was to beat and burn him to death. The
Alabama murder forced the nation to confront a new atrocity just when it was
coming to grips with other violent expressions of hatred in the last year.
Mr. Shepard, who was also gay,
died in October several days after he was found beaten and tied to a fence post
in Wyoming, and James Byrd, Jr., was lynched and dragged to his death in Texas
last year because he was black.
Two men are being held on
murder charges in Mr. Gaither's death. After meeting him at a bar, they locked
him in the trunk of his car, drove it to a deserted boat dock, bludgeoned him
to death with an ax handle, then threw his body onto a pyre of burning tires.
The 39-year-old victim was one
of four sons. He lived with his ailing parents and faithfully provided for
their care. Although neither of them knew that their son was gay, he was an
adult who chose to live his life the way that he did, and that was his
business.
While it is right that the two
men responsible for the hideous crime be charged with murder, they can't be
charged with a hate crime because the Alabama statute only covers hate crimes
committed as a result of race, religion, ethnicity, and disabilities.
Now is the time for hate-crimes
legislation to be expanded to include offenses committed against individuals
because of sexual orientation. After Mr. Shepard's death, the President called
for Congress to make it easier for federal prosecution of hate crimes.
Conservative groups
balk at the idea, arguing that
expanding hate-crimes laws
would validate the gay lifestyle. It would do nothing of the sort. What it
would do is further invalidate horrifying treatment of others.
It's one thing to have an
aversion to certain lifestyles, but it is quite another to express that
hostility to the point that it intimidates others or generates bodily harm.
Neither Congress nor the states need any more reason to weigh in on expanding hate-crimes laws to include violations toward others based on sexual orientation. The deaths of Billy Jack Gaither and Matthew Shepard underscore that Americans must understand that no level of government will tolerate these heinous acts.
Gaither Vigils
SUMMARY: Memorials for the gay Alabama murder victim continue
across the country and offer a chance to reevaluate current laws - but is
anti-gay violence becoming so "regular" it will end up being ignored?
While perhaps 300 people attended a Birmingham,
Alabama vigil for Sylacausa gay-bashing murder victim Billy Jack Gaither on
March 9, a smaller outdoor gathering was also held that chilly night at the
University of Alabama at Huntsville. The campus group Huntsville's OUTgoing
Positive Experience (HOPE) was sad to be staging another candlelight vigil less
than five months after their memorial for gay University of Wyoming student
Matthew Shepard; as vigil organizer Cindy Hughey said, "We are holding way
too many of these. We can no longer sit by and let people be murdered."
"What is it going to take to make the
Alabama legislature take us seriously, to make the Alabama general public take
us seriously?" asked student Bruce Haga, as he urged participants to lobby
legislators to add sexual orientation as a protected category under the state's
hate crimes law. Referring back to Shepard's murder in October, Curtis Bathurst
said, "I was angered last time. Now I'm scared. But we will not go back
into the closet. We will not be afraid to be identified, to have our picture
taken. What you see here tonight is light. It is the light of resistance."
Gaither's death also sparked a candlelight march
by about 200 people far from Alabama in West Hollywood, California on March 7.
Among those making statements at the rally were Governor Gray Davis, Speaker of
the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblymember Wally Knox
(D-Los Angeles).
"Today, I am deeply grieved by the
senseless murder of Billy Jack Gaither because it strikes at the very heart of
what it means to be an American," said the governor. "Our nation was
built on a foundation of inalienable rights and freedoms. If any man or woman
cannot walk safely down our streets for fear of violence simply because of his
or her sexual orientation, then none of us are truly free.... I join my fellow
Californians and Americans in expressing outrage for this act of cowardice. And
I reaffirm my commitment to keeping California a zero-tolerance state for
crimes of hate based on sexual orientation."
Villaraigosa said, "As Speaker of the
Assembly I can do no less than rededicate my efforts to eradicate the senseless
and cruel hatred that took Billy Jack Gaither's life ... and James Byrd's life
... and Matthew Shepard's life. Even in the face of such brutality, they
question the need for hate crimes law in Washington D.C.; they question the
need for hate crimes law in Wyoming, in Texas, in Alabama... But here in
California we set the standard, we are clear, we are united. We have a hate
crimes law that says NO to violence against gays and lesbians against women and
minorities."
But California's existing hate crimes law
punishes crimes motivated by bias against racial and religious groups more
harshly than it does those motivated by bias based on sexual orientation,
gender or disability. That's something Knox hopes to change with a bill he's
reintroduced in the legislature, AB 208. He explained that Gaither's attackers
would receive no more than 25 years' imprisonment for the same crime in
California, while a racially-motivated murder would result in life
imprisonment. Knox said, "How many more will be slaughtered before the
legislature says the killing must stop?"
Further demonstrations in reactions to Gaither's
murder are planned for San Francisco on March 13 and for New York City on March
15. But thus far no such action is planned in Boston, where a vigil was held
for Shepard, according to the gay and lesbian newspaper "Bay
Windows." Don Gorton, chair of the Massachusetts Governor's Task Force on
Hate Crimes told the paper that, "I haven't sensed the same level of
reaction that we witnessed in response to the Matthew Shepard case, but people
nevertheless are very aware of and very troubled by this latest murder. It
seems there is now almost a regularity about these brutal murders that occur
around the country based on sexual orientation." Gorton believes Shepard was
someone people could identify with, particularly because of his youth (he was
21 when he died), while information about Gaither was slower in coming. But
Boston's Task Force on Hate Crimes' annual "Stop the Hate" media
campaign was already scheduled to begin in the coming week.
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