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Gay bashers get seven years for assaulting Grant Park man
by KC Wildmoon
Two men were convicted of aggravated
assault on January 9 for bashing a gay man
in Grant Park last May. Fulton Superior
Court Judge Frank Eldridge sentenced
Ronnie Earl Warren and Franklin Smith,
both 18, to seven years in prison after they
accepted a plea bargain that dropped addi
tional charges of aggravated battery.
In early May of 1991, Christopher
LeBeaux, a 32-year-old print media model,
answered a knock at the door of his Grant
Park home. Outside the door was a
woman, identified as Linda Hartwell a.k.a.
Teresa Chastain, and Warren and Smith.
LeBeaux had seen Hartwell walk past his
house before, and let her in when she
asked to use the phone.
Warren and Smith came in with the
woman, and beat LeBeaux savagely with 2
by 4s. LeBeaux required 250 stitches, and
had a broken skull, broken shoulder, and
five broken fingers, as well as neurological
damage leaving him susceptible to
seizures.
Smith was caught near the end of May,
and Warren was captured in July. Hartwell
has still not been apprehended. All the
suspects were identified by fingerprints left
on the boards used to beat LeBeaux.
Larry Pellegrini, president of the les
bian/gay rights chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, attended
Thursday's hearing with LeBeaux. He said
that as frightening as it was for him to face
his attackers, LeBeaux stood his ground.
"It sends a message to bashers that they
can't count on their victims wimping out,"
said Pellegrini. "Standing up is what the
community is doing now."
"It also points out the need for someone
with the proper training to develop a vic
tim's assistance program," he continued.
"Chris really didn't know what to do in the
beginning. His whole purpose was to get
some of the constant nightmares out of his
head."
Pelligrini said that Warren and Smith
are not expected to appeal. The pair will
be eligible for parole in 32-36 months.
QN back in count
Files for dismissal of criminal
tresspass charges
by KC Wildmoon
Queer Nation/Atlanta was in court on
January 3, presenting a motion to dismiss
criminal trespass charges against 11 Queer
Nationals who were arrested on June 30
during a sit-in at the Lithonia Cracker Bar
rel. DeKalb County judge Gail Flake
requested a brief from Cracker Barrel
attorneys within 10 days. Queer Nation
will have 10 days after that to respond.
QN attorney Michael Hauptman said
that he doesn't expect a ruling from Judge
Flake for at least a month.
"I feel pretty good about it all," said
Hauptman. "Even if the charges are not
dismissed, I feel relatively convinced that
we'll win this case on trial.”
Hauptman filed his motion to dismiss
based on his clients' rights to protest what
they consider offensive practices by the
Tennessee-based restaurant chain. In addi
tion to Cracker Band's anti-gay employ
ment policy, published and "retracted" in
early 1991, Queer Nation members are
protesting what they call "racist memora
bilia," such as "Mammy" dolls and Con
federate flags, sold in Cracker Barrel gift
shops.
Reverend Fred Taylor, of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, and
DeKalb County Commissioner Jackie
Scott testified during the hearing for Queer
Nation. Commissioner Scott was asked to
leave Cracker Barrel property and told
never to return during a demonstration on
November 24.
In Tennessee, a hearing on whether or
not to make permanent an injunction pro
hibiting Queer Nationals from protesting
near Cracker Barrel property will come
before a judge sometime in February. That
injunction was obtained by Cracker Barrel
a few days before the Cracker Barrel
stockholders meeting, held in November at
corporate headquarters in Lebanon, Ten
nessee. The injunction names several
members of Queer Nation/Atlanta, the
Tennessee Cracker Barrel Boycott Coali
tion, and Ivy Young, of the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force.
Walton House opposed
by KC Wildmoon
Downtown business leaders at Central
Atlanta Progress (CAP) have told the
Atlanta Journal-constitution that they are
concerned with set aside housing for HIV+
persons at Walton House, a single room
occupancy (SRO) project approved late
last month for downtown's Fairlie-Poplar
district.
"It would become a hospice," said
Lewis Holland, president of CAP. "I don't
think that is the location for a hospice."
CAP Chairman L. Phillip Humann
agreed, adding that housing HIV+ persons
could keep Georgia State University from
eventually moving some of its facilities
into the district.
"We think [the SRO] is a good idea in
the wrong place," said Humann. "The
presence of HIV+ people alongside any
kind of college student would probably
result in Georgia State being unable to
make this move."
Last month, City council barely beat a
December 31 deadline to provide part of
the money to purchase the building. The
project, which will be operated by Antioch
Baptist Church North, will have 128
rooms for working homeless people and
working people with HIV.
Church officials have reported that
Bank South is balking on submitting a cru
cial grant application on their behalf. The
money from that grant is to be used for
renovation.
Bank South had originally agreed to
submit a $500,000 application to the Fed
eral Home Loan Bank, but "has been balk
ing at doing that because of opposition
from Central Atlanta Progress," according
to Craig Taylor, a founder of Progressive
Redevelopment Inc., which helped the
church obtain funding for the project.
Officials at Bank South and at CAP
deny any pressure on the bank's decision.
The deadline for submitting the grant
application is January 15.
Downtown business leaders have
opposed the project since its inception,
originally saying only that the project
would stymie business development in the
area.
PWfl—lawsuit
Cont'd from page 1
"I called the hospitals," she continued.
"But it never occured t6 me to call the
jail."
When Kevin hadn't shown on Christmas
Eve, his brother Michael made one more
call from Florida.
"Michael just said 'Well, if you won’t
pick up, Merry Christmas anyway,"' said
Cupler. "When we played back his answer
ing machine, there must have been 10 or
11 calls from us."
Kevin Fee was born on October 1,
1952, in Cleveland, Ohio, the third child of
Margaret and A1 Fee. The Fees moved to
Florida in the mid-60s, and Kevin, like his
older brother Michael, joined the Army
Kevin Fee, pictured here at his cousin's wed
ding, was a 20-year Atlanta resident and a
Vietnam veteran.
straight out of high school.
Following a tour of duty in Vietnam,
where he worked in communications and
drove a jeep for a colonel, he moved to
Atlanta. For almost 20 years, he lived,
worked and played here, like thousands of
others.
"It was a lot of fun back then in the
70s," said Larry Barton, who met Kevin
shortly after he arrived here. "The gay
lifestyle was happening—living in Mid
town, the bars were hopping."
"We went to Key West, Mardi Gras—
everything. Kevin was just a normal guy."
Then, in July of 1988, Kevin found out
what had become all too normal for gay
men—he was diagnosed with AIDS. He
immediately called his family—two broth
ers, a sister, and his mother and father.
"We dropped everything and came to
Atlanta," said his sister, Elena Cupler, who
lives in Clearwater, Florida. "I cancelled
plans I had to be somewhere else. We
were there for him."
Kevin didn’t tell the family he was gay,
just that he had AIDS.
"He didn't have to tell us how he got it,"
said Cupler. "It didn't matter how. When
he said it, it just meant our brother was
dying."
Kevin was laid off from his job with
Circuit City and put on disability. He quit
smoking and kept regular appointments
with his doctor.
"He was doing what he needed to do to
stay better," said Cupler.
Then, in July of 1991, Kevin's insurance
ran out.
"That really got him down," said Bar
ton. "He stopped seeing the doctor. I
could tell he was getting weaker and weak
er."
Still, Kevin kept going. He moved into
a Lenox Road apartment in August. His
sister Elena and Dee Lovera helped him
move. In September, he and Barton went
to the Braves' last home playoff game
against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"It was a spontaneous thing," Barton
said. "He just said, 'Let's go. We’ll never
get another chance.' But he was real sick.
He had to lean on my shoulder on the way
out."
"I saw him the first week in December.
He was so disoriented he couldn't find
where to pay his bills," Barton continued.
"I asked him about home nursing care and
he said he didn't want to, didn't want any
one to have to take care of him. To lose his
dignity like that was frustrating."
Barton said that in the last few weeks of
his life, Kevin had begun filling out the
paperwork for Medicaid. That paperwork
went unfinished.
Friends and family want to know what
happened to Kevin in jail. They cannot
understand why someone as obviously
sick as Kevin was not given medical treat
ment.
"What was the problem?" asked Cupler.
"Is it because he was sick and no one
wanted to bother? Is it AIDS? There is a
definitely a problem there."
"And why didn't someone call earlier?
All they needed to do was look in his wal
let," said Cupler. "All the information was
in there. A hospital would have done
that."
"He never should have gone to jail to
begin with," said Barton. "He should have
gone to Grady then."
Tom Procock, Director of the city's
Office of Corrections, said that an investi
gation is underway, and will not be com
pleted until early next week.
"The matter is under review," he said. "
For some reason Kevin Fee did not receive
the treatment he needed. Obviously some
breakdown occured somewhere. I want to
be absolutely clear on where that break
down did occur.."
"We do not intend to cover up any
thing," Procock continued. "We won't pre
tend it didn't happen. If we find that pro
cedures weren't followed, then appropriate
corrective action will be taken."
Procock said that records at the jail
indicate Kevin's HIV status was unknown
to the staff at the time of his initial incar
ceration. Cupler said that a corrections
officer told her they knew.
"We didn't know in the beginning," said
Procock. "We're trying to determine what
happened as the days went by."
"It shouldn't matter ," said Kenny
Davis, another friend. "The city needs to
realize that when something like this hap
pens to a person, whether they're good,
bad, ugly, that person is human. Nobody
has the right to take that from you."
2
Southern Voice/January 16, 1992
