Files Suit
Air
Coronado
FAYETTEVILLE (POPE AIR FORCE BASE)—
Capt, Robert N. Coronado was dismissed
from the U,S. Air Force on Oct* 15* He
was convicted by a military jury of
consensual sodomy and conduct unbecom
ing an officer. The dismissal is the
equivalent of a dishonorable discharge
and is being appealed.
Coronado was first arrested by
civilian authorities after Army para
trooper, Pfc. Jonathan Heaton accused
Coronado of having drugged and raped
him on Aug. 17. Civilian authorities
dropped charges against Coronado when
no evidence of force was found and
after Heaton failed to appear in court
on four different occasions.
However, in October the Air Force
charged Coronado with forceful sodomy.
At the time of the alleged incident,
Coronado was both off duty and off
base. The question of jurisdiction
in the case remains unresolved.
Coronad^o’s first military lawyer
procured from him a statement des
cribing his sex with Heaton, promising
Coronado a better character discharge
for cooperating. The prosecution re
lied heavily on the statement. The
five-officer jury rejected the charge
of force but convicted Coronado of
consensual sodomy,
Coronado’s civilian lawyers,
T, Hutchens and M, Waple in Fayette
ville, noted the court’s leniency;
in addition to the dismissal, the
court could have sentenced him to
five years'’ hard labor, to pay a
fine set by the jury, and to for
feit pay and allowances.
The appeal of the case will focus
on three points:
-Coronado’s first military at
torney left the service before the
case came up for .trial and Coronado
met his replacement only one week
before the trial. Chief trial
judge Col, Smith denied a delay
for the trial.
-The first military lawyer was
allowed to testify against Coronado,
-The court seated jurors over
defense objections that they were
hostile to homosexuals.
In addition to the appeal,
Coronado has entered suit in fed
eral court accusing the Air Force
of violating his civil rights and
alleging that the prosecution is a
bad faith action because it seeks
to dismiss him solely becuase he
is a homosexual.
Coronado has requested the finan
cial support of the Playboy Founda
tion for his appeal. The San
Francisco-based Gay Rights Advocates,
when asked for a recommendation by
the Foundation on Coronado’s request,
recommended approval,
Coronado’s defense has cost him
$15,000, of which he has paid $5000.
He has appealed to the public for
support. The Coronado Defense Fund
(P.O. Box 40954, Fayetteville, NC
28304) is helping to raise money,
and the North Carolina Human Rights
Fund (P.O. Box 10782, Raleigh, NC
27605) has also given aid.
UNC-G Students Protest Gays
GREENSBORO—On Nov. 15 an undeter
mined number of anti-gay student demon
strators gathered in front of Strong
Hall on the UNC-G campus in order to
protest an "educational seminar on
homosexuality" being held in the dormi
tory basement.
The seminar was organized by
Richard Stilley, Graduate Counselor
for Strong Hall, in order to alleviate
rising tensions between heterosexual
and homosexual dorm residents. The
tension came about through repeated
incidents of "verbal harassments"
exchanged by the students in the
dorm.
Stilley said the purpose of the
seminar was "a give and take ses
sion. ..to air people’s opinions and
gripes." He organized the event
after consulting with gay residents
of the dorm. Silley stressed that
it was not a product of the Gay
Student Movement or the newly formed
Gay Student Union at UNC-G.
Protesters chanted and jeered,
waving banners such as "John Wayne
Ain’t Queer" and "Gays Go Home."
They complied with requests from
Campus Security that no masks be
worn or.firecracters set off;
the protest was peaceful.
Seminar participants invited
the protesters to come in to
discuss the issues, but these
invitations were shouted down.
The Rev. Joe Flora, a seminar
participant who met with the pro
testers, stated that a number of
students involved later confessed
that they had been uncomfortable in
the protest and that it "had caused
them to do a lot of serious think
ing." Gay dorm resident Rick
Darnell said that verbal harass
ment of gays had increased
considerably since the protest.