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NEWS 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