THE FULL STORY OF THE KILLING OF PFC. BARRY WINCHELL
GenderPac Release

The beating death of Pfc. Barry Winchell at an Army base in Tennessee has always been portrayed as a "gay hate crime," both by gay activist groups and the mainstream media.

Yet despite all the intense coverage of Winchell's death and all the talk it prompted over "gays in the military," from President Clinton on down, the full story has yet to be told.

Until now, that is.

In a cover story titled "War Widow" in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, reporter David France finally tells the full truth in an in-depth piece on the life, death, and subsequent portrayal by gay groups of Pfc. Barry Winchell (www.nytimes.com/magazine). In fact, Winchell's lover was not another man -- he had never dated men -- but a transgender woman named Calpernia Adams.

The story lead -- beneath a femme, curvaceous, and radiant but saddened Callie Adams -- reads, "Pfc. Barry Winchell was murdered for having a gay lover. But in the battle over the injustices of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' that lover -- Calpernia Adams -- is no poster boy."

The full facts were first covered in a series of articles and interviews carried by GenderPAC's National News service [http://www.gpac.org/news/] and earlier this year picked up in a detailed and sympathetic piece in the country's premier gay news glossy, The Advocate.

Sunday's piece in the New York Times marks the first time the national mainstream press has acknowledged the full complexity of this terrible hate crime.

In response, gay groups have been quick to point to the fact that Winchell's assailant reported attacked him because of the perception that he was gay. Similar skirmishes have broken out in past over media and gay activist groups' portrayals of Brandon Teena, Matthew Shepard, Tyra Hunter, and the bombing of The Otherside bar in Atlanta.

Responded GenderPAC Executive Director, Riki Wilchins, "When transgender women are assaulted because they are perceived as homosexual, gay groups point out that it's an anti-gay hate crime. When a gay man is picked out in part because he's young and slender and gentle and blond, gay groups point out that it's an anti-gay hate crime. And now when a young soldier is killed because he's dating a transgender woman, gay groups point out that this, too, is only an anti-gay hate crime.

"Its past time we acknowledge that when GLBT victims are beaten, assaulted or killed, it's never just about sexual orientation. It's always about orientation and gender, or orientation and race, or orientation and class. Representing these crimes as anything less does a terrible injustice to the lives we lead, the challenges we face, and the scars we bear ."

At GenderPAC we're committed to full, fair, and accurate representations of hate crimes and their victims which acknowledge the complexity of our lives and struggles.

Please email the New York Times and The Advocate and tell them you appreciate them getting the full story out about gender and GLBT hate crimes.