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A Henderson m*n hasbeenfoundinnocent . of charges that he solicited an: undercover policeman for “ijJrime against nature” ft Rajeigh’s Crabtree-Valley Mall on August 14. - Duan<e Evans, one of 39 men arrested in an undercover campaign at Raleigh .shopping malls this summer, was found hot-guilty after a trial before Wake District Judge L. W. “Mike” Payne on November 2. Evans was the only one of the arrested men who asked the North Carolina Human Rights Fund for legal assistance. The NCHRF accepted Evans’ case after he contacted the NCHRF on October 12. He was represented for the NCHRF by Raleigh attorney John H. Boddie. Most of the other shopping mall cases have been postponed until December or January. However, at least three other cases have been decided. A Raleigh physician was found guilty of “solicitation for crime against nature” before Judge Payne on November 1. In that case the undercover officer, J. C. Taylor, contended that the defendant was masturbating in front of a urinal when he told the officer, “I’m into blow jobs, I’d like to give you a blow job.” Under cross-examination by defense attorney Wade Smith, the officer admitted that he had his penis out of his pants during his encounter with the defendant. The defendant doctor said that he had not masturbated and had mentioned “blow jobs” only in response to what he believed was a solicitation by the officer. The defendant, who was fined $50 and court costs by Judge Payne, appealed the case for a new trial in superior court. In another case decided November 1 Judge Narley Cashwell fcrfjnd & man guilty of solicitation and assault-, after Officer Taylor testified' that- the defendant grabbed the officer’s “crotch". On October 11 'Judge Cashwell dismissed a Charge of disorderly conduct against a man who allegedly stood in a toilet stall and masturbated while a police officer looked on. In Evans’ case, Officer M. V. Jarmon testified that he was standing in a mall restroom when Evans came in and went to a urinal. He said that Evans looked at him and then walked out the door, holding it open for the officer. Officer Jarmon said that he then followed Evans to the parking lot, where they struck up a conversation. At the end of the conversation, according to the officer, Evans said he “gives blow jobs and likes to receive them, too.” Jarmon said he then asked Evans “if he was going to give me one,” and Evans said, “Yes.” Evans testified that he had gone to the restroom to relieve himself and that while he was urinating, he could see that a man (the officer) was staring at him. Evans said that he left the restroom, heading for his car. The officer caught up with him in the parking lot and began a conversation. Evans continued that although at first he was put off by the man’s aggressiveness, he gradually warmed up to him. He said that the officer looked at him in a sexually suggestive way, and that it was very clear that he was looking for sex. Evans said that when he finally mentioned “blow jobs” it was in response to the officer’s solicitation of him. Accused Murderer Fit To Stand Trial A state psychiatrist has said that Joseph Charles Johnson is competent to stand trial on a charge that he murdered a Winston- Salem gay man last January, according to a report in the Winston-Salem Journal. Johnson, 19, pleaded not guilty to the first degree murder charge at his arraignment on October 30. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. The trial is set for November 26. Johnson is charged with killing Robert Allen Moyers by cutting his throat with a knife. Friends of Moyers’ found his body on January 20 in his apartment. Judge W. Douglas Albright denied a motion by attorney Carl Parrish that would have disallowed as evidence Johnson’s conviction on a manslaugther charge when he was 15. (The Front Page has been told, although it has not yet been confirmed, that this case also involved a homosexual victim.) Parrish said that allowing that as testimony could be used to show a history of violent behavior. Such a history could figure in a jury’s consideration of whether Johnson should receive the death penalty, if convicted. Parrish, who is Johnson’s court-appointed attorney, asked the court for money to hire an independent psychiatrist to evaluate Johnson. Albright denied the request because the state’s forensic psychiatrist said that Johnson is competent to stand trial. In denying the request, Albright read aloud the state psychiatrist’s letter: “He is capable of going to trial and understands the legal situation. I find nothing to suggest that he would not be responsible for his actions.” Albright also said that the prosecution can also use as evidence fingerprints identified as Johnson’s found on a beer bottle in Moyer’s apartment. Parrish said that the bottles should have been destroyed, the fingerprints shouldn’t be allowed as evidence. Parrish also asked that Moyers’ stereo, found in the apartment of Johnson’s girlfriend, not be admitted as evidence because no one knows when it was removed from the apartment. Albright denied the motion after District Attorney Donald K. Tisdale said that witnesses would testify that the stereo was in Moyers’ apartment on the day before the murder. • A tape of the incident leading to Evans* arrest showed that the two talked for about 12 minutes before any verbal reference to sex. The Raleigh City Manager is currently conducting an* investigation of undercover operations by the Raleigh Police Department. The investigation report was due to be given to Raleigh Mayor Avery Upchurch in October. However, the investigation has been delayed. * Anyone with a complaint against the Raleigh Police Department may still write Dempsey E. Benton, Jr., Raleigh City Manager, PO Box 596, Raleigh, NC 27662 to provide him with the details of your complaint. • Press Clippings: ... You Lose Some So my candidates lost. Big deal. That doesn’t make me wrong. The notion that winning makes you right is one of the nastier principles of ReagAmerica — which has room only for winners. That’s what Reagan means by his constant references to the American Olympic gold: “Greg Louganis, come on down! You, too, Mary Lou Retton and Carl Lewis — provided you both remember your place as second-class citizens. But if you are a loser — i.e., you’re not white, straight, male, healthy, and rich — then don’t bother to apply. You’d just depress us.” They’ve been repairing the Statue of Liberty this year. (Rumors that her facelift will make her look like Nancy R. have yet to be disproved.) They’ve also updated her plaque, to fit ReagAmerica: “Give me your healthy, your rich, your well-heeled Yuppies yearning to spend free ...” I didn’t lose. We all lost. You’ll see. When you do, send apologies c/o The Front Page. Two minor victories to report. First, the UPI wire service picked up the News & Observer piece on The Front Page and “Gays for Jesse.” From there, it got printed n the Roanoke Rapids, NC, Herald (10-29). The story developed a heavily Republican slant, emphasizing Helms’s denials rather than the gay votes. Still, the folks in Roanoke Rapids did get a brief glimpse of the world elsewhere. Second, a usually reliable source (who also does a great Bette Davis) informs me that onewf those “gays for Jesse” changed his mind after reading last issue’s “Press Clippings” item about Helms’s homosexual joke. It’s a small victory; but in elections, as in bars, I take what I can get. Making a Killing Ii’s time to clean out the clippings box. During the campaign months, we’ve collected some homophobic pieces that provoked good gay responses. Even though some are about the elections, they’re still relevant. Candidates may come and go, but homophobia is forever. For example, there’s a letter from H. Doyle Seymour to the Winston-Salem Sentinel^ 10-16), which briefly mentions the Democratic platform plank on gays, but soon gets to the essence of gay life: killing straights, through mass disease and mass murder. Seymour first rants about AIDS, stressing that no one knows “all the ways AIDS is transmitted.” He’s exploiting the fear that it is spread not just through sexual contact, but through casual contact. That means that even straights could get it, from hairdressers and toilet seats. Which lets Seymour draw this conclusion: “When one group’s pursuit of happiness infringes on the rights and freedom (not to mention health) of others, then they forfeit those rights.” It gets worse: “Besides the fact of potential plague, one must consider the other effects of this perverted lifestyle. How does one explain to the families of the victims of mass murdering homosexuals like John Wayne Gacy, who buried many of his victims under his house? Of course he was just exercising his freedom to be himself and pursuing his brand of happiness.” Gacy is no more your typical gay than Hitler is your typical heterosexual. Instead, although he had sex with the young men he killed, he violently denied being gay. In fact, while killing them, he often read to them from the Bible to prove that they were evil and deserved to die. (This information is taken from Killer Clown, a recent book about the Gacy killings — Ed.) So Gacy, far from being gay, is a homophobe — like you, H. Doyle. Gacy is the product, not of a society too lenient toward gays, but of a homophobic society that taught him to hate himself. He simply turned the hatred outward onto the young men he desired. You should be proud of him, H. Doyle. He’s on your side. The Sentinel printed (10-26) a response from Rick Hunter, who acknowledges that AIDS and Gacy are realities, but asks the sensible question: “What do they have totdo with the civil rights of responsible and productive gay men and lesbian women?” Hunter describes his own reality, in contrast to Seymour’s stereotypes: “I am gay. I punch a clock five days a week and pay taxes like most folks. Instead of putting on a false front, I simply choose to be myself. ... Like many other gay people, I consider myself to be a responsible, productive American citizen.” Some might question Hunter’s implied assertion that, to be a “citizen,” a gay must be “responsible” and “productive.” How many straights could pass such a test? Still, his conclusion holds: “I believe that as long as I’m not hurting anyone, I should have the freedom to live my life as I please.” But Names Can Never Hurt Me The recent campaign has taught us to recognize a more subtle homophobia — the kind that is especially treacherous because it at first seems to be liberal and enlightened. An editorial in the Greensboro News-Record (10-12), entitled “Racists and ‘Queers’,” first describes how Helms called Hunt a “racist” for running some ads only in black newspapers. Then it draws a parallel: “Just as shameful is the Helms camp's attempt to link Hunt with gay rights” — in particular, press secretary Claude Allen’s statement that Hunt had links to “the queers.” The editorial bemoans: “The attempt to slur Hunt’s character is transparent.” continued on page 14 M. C.CJ Richmond 4500 Kensington Avenue Richmond, Virginia 23221 (804) 359-5426 Rev. Arthur C. Runyan, II Meets 6:30 each Sunday. All are welcome! METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH Of CHARLOTTE Services: Sunday 11am ft 7pm Tups ft Wed - 7:30pm 229 Austin Drive Charlotte, NC 28213 REV. LYNN GUERRA, PASTOR (704) 598-7188
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