Newspaper Page Text
From the pages of
Southern Voice
The 1988
t
Awards
*(Most memorable media makers)
Page 5
Vol. 1, No. 23
Taking Pride in Our Culture
January 5,1989
Dallas Judge
Under Fire
Nationwide Effort Underway to
Unseat Judge Jack Hampton for
Lenient Ruling in Murder Case
Dallas-Gays and lesbians in Dallas,
Texas are receiving support from every
comer of the country in their efforts to
unseat a judge who revealed he was lenient
in sentencing a murderer because the men
he killed were gay.
Judge Jack Hampton told a local reporter
that the reason he sentenced 18-year-old
Richard Berdnarski to 30 years in prison
rather than life in prison, was that his
victims, Tommy Lee Trimble, 34, and
Lloyd Griffin, 27, were "Queers".
If his victims, said the judge, had been "a
couple of housewives," the sentence would
have been different. Hampton explained he
didn't care for "queers cruising the streets
picking up teenage boys".
Testimony during die trial revealed that
Bednarski and his friends went out on the
night of the murder to "pester
homosexuals". They picked up the two men
and drove them to a deserted area and told
them to undress. When the men refused,
Bednarski put a gun in the mouth of one of
his victims and fired three times. When the
second man tried to crawl away, he stomped
on his arm and shot him several times.
Despite the conclusive testimony, Judge
Hampton issued what is considered a light
sentence, and the reasons behind the
sentence became widely known after
Hampton's newspaper interview.
Immediately after the article appeared in the
Dallas Times Herald, the offices of the
Dallas Gay Alliance were flooded with
calls. Newspapers across the country
published scathing editorials, and the
community in Dallas began a campaign to
have Hampton removed from the bench.
According to John Thomas, executive
director of the Dallas Gay Alliance, the case
has made it clear that "this can happen
anywhere". In fact, said Thomas, his office
has received calls from people who've
received less-than-equal justice in the courts
because of their sexual orientation and are
now considering taking action against other
bigoted judges.
In Dallas, several demonstrations and
rallies have been held under the auspices of
gay and lesbian groups and feminist groups
like the National Organization for Women.
At one protest, attended by 650 people,
statements read included a message from
Senator Edward Kennedy, who called
Hampton's actions "bigotry at its worst"
Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards,
keynote speaker at die Democratic
Cont'd Page 3
PAMELA J. COLE
Happy New Year!
New Year's Eve revelers Barbara Harvey (L), Eleanor Smith, Jeff Triplett (L) and John Kappers ring in 1989
the old-fashioned way. The two couples were among several hundred people who spent the last night of the year
at the Inman Park Trolley Barn at a party co-sponsored by Sister Sister Productions and Friends Atlanta.
John Lewis To Co-sponsor Anti-discrimination Bill
U. S. Representatives Henry Waxman
(D-Califomia) and Ted Weiss (D-New
York) were to re-introduce legislation
prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
affectional or sexual orientation to the 101st
Congress on Jan. 3.
John Lewis, Georgia's Democratic 5th
District Representative, said he will be an
original co-sponsor of the bill, which has
not changed since it was introduced as H. R.
709 in the 100th Congress.
H. R. 709 was the first piece of
legislation Lewis sponsored during his first
term in office, said his Legislative Assistant
John Franklin.
"Mr. Lewis has always been very up
front in his support of sexual discrimination
legislation," Franklin said.
"We all know discrimination exists on
the basis of sexual preference. Some
members of Congress have said 'I cannot
put my name on it yet' but have agreed to
vote for it John Lewis believes the time is
always right to do right," said Franklin.
H. R. 709 is intended to protect all
persons from discrimination in housing,
employment, public accommodations and
federally assisted programs on the basis of
sexual orientation. These are the same
protections that are now afforded to racial,
ethnic, sex and religious classes by the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and 1968.
Opponents of civil rights protections on
the basis of sexual orientation argue that the
bill violates the "establishment of religion"
and "free exercise of religion" clauses of the
First Amendment, since certain religions
hold that homosexuality is wrong. They also
cite Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), the
Supreme Court decision upholding the
Georgia sodomy statute, as evidence that
homosexual acts, and therefore
homosexuals, are not protected by the
Constitution.
Proponents of the legislation maintain
that discrimination against homosexuals
constitutes a violation of basic rights that are
guaranteed to all under the Constitution.
They argue that disclosure of one's
homosexuality frequently results in the loss
of job or housing, and that discrimination is
widespread, materially injurious in nature
and requires legislative remedy.
Since its introduction in 1987, H. R. 709
has slowly gained Congressional support,
with 75 co-sponsors at the last session of
Congress.
Franklin said there was "no way of
knowing" how many co-sponsors would
sign H. R. 709 in January. "It's just a matter
of building support-it's something you work
for," he said.
"It's a long road."
- Wendy Morse