Baltimore Alternative, April 1992

MORE April 1992 T Volume 7, Number 4 T Serving The Baltimore /Washington Community Since 1986 NATIONAL Hugh Calloway remembers the attack in Texas in 1991 which injured him and killed his lover. Anti-Gay Crimes Up Again in ’91 BY CLIFF O’NEILL THE AUERNATIVE t was supposed to be just another night out. But on October 26, 1991, for Hugh Calloway and his lover, Thanh Nguyen, it was anything but. On that evening, the two men left a Dallas gay bar and decided to stop by a local McDonald's for a burger, some fries and a soda before calling it a night. They found a picnic table in a park and decided to eat there. When they were set upon by three young men, their life together was shattered forever. Pulling a gun on the couple, the assailants demanded the men’s money and jewelry. For 15 minutes, they took turns holding each of their victim at gunpoint while they pummeled the other with repeated kicks, punches and shouts. See HATE CRIMES, page 4 Hate on BALTIM Grand Jury Clears Police in Death of Gay PWA Ж Local Gay and AIDS Activists J <4 Outraged BY JOSHUA LOWE THE ALTERNATIVE Robert £ djed A Baltimore grand jury whi|e jn the custody exonerated all city 0f Baltimore police. police officers of any criminal malfeasance in the death of Robert E. Privett, a 29-year-old, gay person with AIDS. The grand jury deliberated for two days, interview¬ ing 1 1 witnesses and debating among themselves for a day before returning their findings March 26, said State's Attormey Stuart Simms. “I am confident that the state was able to present nearly every aspect of this case to the grand jury for consideration," said Simms in a statement. "I cannot second guess nor characterize what the grand jury’s conlcusions were other than that in this specific case on its own specific facts, the extent of force used which resulted in Mr. Privctt’s death did not consitute probable cause for a specific crime." Baltimore's AIDS and gay community was quick to See GRAND JURY, page 5 WASHINGTON DC Lawyers Argue Banning Gay Marriage Protects ‘Morals’ BY CLIFF O’NEILL THE ALTERNATIVE Lawyers for the government of the District of Columbia have filed their arguments against granting a same-sex couple a marriage license, saying that prohibitions against such unions protect the public's "safety and morals." Filing their arguments with the DC Superior Court February 20, the city's corporations counsel explained why the city is refusing to grant a marriage license to District residents Patrick Gill and Craig Dean. “The regulation of marriage is necessary in the inter¬ est of protecting the public health, safely and morals in the District of Columbia,” wrote the city’s attorneys. “The public safety is also served by a system of legit¬ imizing relationships in the interest of promoting domestic peace and harmony among the citizenry," they added, "and the public morals arc promoted by encouragement of conformity with society's ideas of right human conduct.” The couple has charged that the local government’s refusal to grant them a license violates the local human rights law barring discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation. See GAY MARRAGE page 4