--- Sponsor's Message -------------------------------------- **WEBMASTERS! REGISTER DOMAINS FREE at NameDemo.com!** Now you can get a domain name at NameDemo.comTM for a year ABSOLUTELY FREE! You’ll also get your own FREE unique email address like [EMAIL PROTECTED]! http://click.topica.com/aaaaEqbz8SnrbAjwjxa/NameDemo ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________________________________________________ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Friday, 29 September 2000 Vol. 4, Number 79 (#472) __________________________________________________________________________ Action Alerts Australia: Saturday, 30 Sep 00 -- Anti-Nazi League New York: Sunday, 1 Oct 00 -- Met Council on Housing News of the Homophobic Shooting AP, "Gunman opens fire in gay bar, kills 1," 23 Sep 00 Mike Hudson and Mary Bishop (Roanoke Times), "City's gay community turns out to mourn: A national gay activist said it was one of the worst episodes of anti-gay violence in recent years," 24 Sep 00 Kimberly O'Brien (Roanoke Times), "'I don't know if I can ever forgive him,' man says from hospital bed: Victim describes shooter stepping over him -- John Collins, who played dead in the bar after being shot in the stomach, felt the shooter's long coat rake across his shoulder," 26 Sep 00 Mike Hudson (Roanoke Times), "Del. Richard Cranwell says he's rethinking his position: Activists ask lawmakers to expand hate-crime laws to protect gays -- Some officials oppose hate-crime laws, saying all crimes should be punished regardless of who the victim is," 26 Sep 00 Cody Lowe (Roanoke Times), "He wants Roanoke police to protect him He wants protection from Roanoke police: Anti-gay minister says he'll protest at Overstreet funeral -- Police plan to do whatever they can to accommodate the gay community this week, said a spokeswoman," 27 Sep 00 Obituary: Olga Vysotskaya -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTION ALERTS Australia: Saturday 30 Sep 00 The Anti Nazi League will be holding a stall outside West Ham football ground, this Saturday 30th @ 1: 30 pm in response to the National Front (NF) threatening to do a paper sale there. Local ANL members and West Ham fans will be stickering and leafleting and ensuring the Nazis do not do a sale. We would appreciate it if you could get in touch if you are able to help. ANL, PO Box 2566, London N4 1WJ Phone: 020 7924 0333 Fax: 020 7924 0313 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - - - - - New York: Sunday, 1 Oct 00 What: Rally & Sleepover at City Hall When: Sunday Oct. 1st 6pm - Why: Oct. 1st is the first day Giuliani's rent guidelines board's(RGB's) new rent increases take effect. All new leases and lease renewals for rent stabilized apartments after Oct. 1st will be hit with the largest increases since 1996, this at a time when landlord profits are at an all time high. Met Council, with the help of the NYCLU, is organizing the sleep over to protest the RGB's increases and Giuliani's overall attack on real affordable housing . Please save the date and sleepover if you can. Giuliani-ville will come equipped with music, performers, speakers, tents, cardboard, hardheaded activists and breakfast. details to follow. Save the Date for Housing! This action IS "permitted" and legal observers will be on the scene. On October 1st, over 2 million rent stabilized New Yorkers will be hit with the highest rent increases since 1996, despite the fact that landlord profits are at an all time high. The 4 and 6% increases (and punitive $15 "poor tax") were voted in by the Rent Guidelines Board ("RGB"), a group of nine wealthy men appointed by Mayor Giuliani. Join us for a rally and sleep over at "Giulianiville" as we demand: * The immediate removal of "the two Eds"; Rent Guidelines Board Chair Ed Hochman and Public Member Ed Weinstein. * City Council oversight of the RGB process and the diversification of the RGB to reflect our city (7 of 9 are white, 9 out of 9 are male, 9 out of 9 are "well to do", 8 out of 9 are business professionals) * The creation and preservation of real affordable housing -- not City subsidies to private developers for "80/20 housing" and other phony schemes. * The preservation of public housing, Mitchell-Lama, Section 8, TIL program, SROs, Lofts, supportive housing, etc. Sunday, October 1st 6 - 9 PM...rally, press conference, performance and soup kitchen 9 PM - dawn...sleep-in and vigil Monday, October 2nd 8 - 10 AM...breakfast and leafleting Please sleep-over if you can. If not, please come down to the Sunday PM rally or the Monday AM breakfast and flyering session. MUCH HELP is needed in preparation for this event so if you can lend a hand, please contact Met Council on Housing (also see forth coming e-mail). for more information or to endorse, contact: The Met Council on Housing Dave Powell (212) 693-0553 x.6, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Susan Howard (212) 982-9446 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS OF THE HOMOPHOBIC SHOOTINGS Gunman opens fire in gay bar, kills 1 AP 23 Sep 00 ROANOKE, Va. -- A man who said he wanted to shoot gay people and asked the way to the nearest gay bar later opened fire there, killing one person and wounding six others, police said.The gunman walked into the Backstreet Cafe late Friday, ordered a beer and after a few minutes pulled a handgun from his coat and began firing, said police spokeswoman Shelly Alley. Seven of the 25 people in the bar were wounded, one critically. Danny Lee Overstreet, 43, died at the scene in what police were investigating as a hate crime. "It sounded like firecrackers at first," said a woman who said she was sitting in a booth when the shooting began. She asked not to be identified for fear she might lose her job. "I looked up and saw people falling to the ground," she said. "You could feel the wind off the bullets, they were so close." Ronald Edward Gay, 53, was charged with murder in connection with the shootings and was being held without bail Saturday. Additional charges were expected, Alley said. Police said Gay had been in a different bar Friday and had asked patrons there where the city's nearest gay bar was, telling witnesses he wanted to shoot some gay people. One person gave the man directions and then called police, who arrived at the Backstreet Cafe shortly after the shooting. Officers found Gay walking down a street about two blocks from the Backstreet Cafe and arrested him, Alley said. She said police found a 9 mm pistol in a trash can near the bar. The shooting came one week after members of Roanoke's gay and lesbian community held a gay pride festival. Members of the Washington-based National Gay and Lesbian Task Force came to Roanoke for a candlelight vigil Saturday night. Outside the Backstreet Cafe, flowers, cards and balloons were left by members of the community. Larry Payne, co-owner of a gay and lesbian book and gift shop a few blocks from the bar, said there had not been any growing tension or acts of violence against gays in Roanoke. :I think this guy had a problem with his name. He probably got picked on and picked on as a kid," he said. Alley said Gay had confirmed the witness reports and admitted during questioning that he wanted to shoot gay people but gave no motive. He was carrying identification listing a home address in Citrus Springs, Fla., but Alley said he had been living at various Roanoke addresses for about a year, including a campground and a motel a few blocks from the bar. Gay is named in a Citrus County warrant accusing him of trespassing in July and an injunction against domestic violence, both misdemeanors. He did not have a record in Roanoke, Alley said. Overstreet's sister, Darlene Overstreet, said her brother often visited the Backstreet Cafe. "He just stopped by to have a beer, that's all," she said. Five other victims of the shooting remained hospitalized Saturday. - - - - - City's gay community turns out to mourn: A national gay activist said it was one of the worst episodes of anti-gay violence in recent years. Mike Hudson and Mary Bishop (Roanoke Times) 24 Sep 00 Candles flickered along Roanoke's Salem Avenue on Saturday night as more than 300 people gathered to express their grief - and their determination to fight the hate that killed Danny Lee Overstreet. "I'm not going back. I didn't come to Roanoke to hide in the closet," said the Rev. Catherine Houchins, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of the Blue Ridge, a congregation with a large gay and lesbian membership. She urged the people in the tearful crowd: "Don't grieve like those with no hope." Friday night's shootings in a Roanoke gay bar prompted waves of outrage among gays and lesbians and others across the nation. All day, the shootings dominated gay-community Internet conversations, said David Elliot, of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He said it was one of the worst episodes of anti-gay violence in recent years. The Washington-based task force is sending its field organizer here today to lend moral support to local gay activists. Houchins' church, at 110 Kirk Ave., will host a community meeting at 7:30 p.m. today to discuss hate crimes in Roanoke. In Roanoke, gays and lesbians spent the day trying to learn more about what happened and how to respond. By early afternoon, word was out: Gather on the sidewalk in front of Backstreet Cafe, where Overstreet was shot to death and six others were wounded. People began arriving at 7 p.m. - some striding up alone, some in small groups, others in a contingent of 15, who walked from Highland Park in Old Southwest accompanied by the rhythm of mournful drumming. By 9 p.m., the crowd spilled onto Salem Avenue, forcing Roanoke Police to cordon off the block. Organizers began the formal ceremony by asking anyone who didn't want to be photographed by the news media to step to the back of the crowd. It was an indication that many gays and lesbians still hesitate to acknowledge their sexual orientation - for fear of how their families, their employees and strangers will react. But few people stepped back. Instead, many stepped forward, held hands and sang spirituals. The scene provided a hopeful ending to a day full of painful emotions and questions. Saturday afternoon, Roanoke Mayor Ralph Smith and City Manager Darlene Burcham called a news conference to decry the shootings. "We do not want this to reflect upon our community at all," Burcham said. Saturday morning at Hale's Exxon at the Plantation Road exit of Interstate 81, manager Tom Hale and his customers talked about the shootings. Most people were saddened, he said, but at least one person expressed support for Ronald Edward Gay, charged with first-degree murder: "It's a shame he didn't have more bullets." "What the hell are you talking about?" Hale told him. "We all have a right to live. Nobody in that bar was causing any of us harm last night." All day long, people came to mourn at Backstreet Cafe. Nancy Dancy, 43, wanted to come to the bar Friday night, but her friend Gayle Beverly, 57, preferred to watch the Olympics. So the two stayed away, and now they feel as violated as if they'd been there. Dancy said gays and lesbians "don't hurt anybody. We don't press ourselves on anybody. We just want a place where we can go and feel comfortable and not be harassed or chastised or put down." For many, the shootings may prompt a deeper resolve to fight for the civil rights of homosexuals. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reported 29 anti-gay murders in the United States last year, and 26 the year before. All reported violent incidents - anti-gay assaults, vandalism, verbal abuse and other attacks - totaled 1,965 around the country in 1999, and 2,017 in 1998. Shirley Lesser, executive director of Virginians for Justice, an anti-hate- crime group based in Richmond, said perhaps 90 percent of anti-gay assaults go unreported. She said anti-gay incidents often rise after gay pride events. Roanoke held its annual Pride in the Park a week ago. There was no indication Saturday whether or not Gay visited or knew about Pride in the Park. Sam Garrison, a Roanoke lawyer and gay activist, said Friday's shootings should prod legislators to add sexual orientation to Virginia's hate crimes statute. National activists said the shootings offer more proof that stronger federal laws are also needed. Toward the end of Saturday night's vigil, Kathleen Fowler spoke up softly from amid the crowd: "Can I say something?" "It's not a matter of just the gay and lesbian community," she said. "Everybody has to step up. It's gays, lesbians and everybody else. . . . I expect better from the rest of us." - - - - - 'I don't know if I can ever forgive him,' man says from hospital bed: Victim describes shooter stepping over him -- John Collins, who played dead in the bar after being shot in the stomach, felt the shooter's long coat rake across his shoulder Kimberly O'Brien (Roanoke Times) 26 Sep 00 Lying in a puddle of his own blood, John Collins played dead. Around him, turmoil reigned. Bullets flew through the air. People were screaming, crying, diving for cover. He felt the arms of his good friend, Danny Overstreet, wrapped tightly around his legs. But suddenly, the grip loosened ever so slightly. "I realized Danny was already gone," Collins said. "There was nothing I could do for him." Collins was lucky. One of the most seriously injured in the Friday night shooting at the Backstreet Cafe, he lived to tell the tale of losing his friend of 25 years and to tell the horror that filled the Salem Avenue bar that night. He almost didn't make it. Doctors told his mother, Lois Collins, that it was touch and go. Shot in the stomach, Collins lost parts of both intestines and his colon. He'll have to wear a colostomy bag for at least three months before another operation to try to repair the damaged organs. The emotional damage is another thing. Speaking Monday afternoon from his room in Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, the 39-year-old Northwest Roanoke man recounted the minutes when a man opened fire in the crowded bar, killing one and wounding six. A drifter named Ronald Edward Gay was later arrested and charged with murder in connection with the shooting. Less than a half-hour earlier, Gay had told an employee at another bar he wanted to "go waste some faggots," police said. Collins was at the bar, known to cater to gays and lesbians, at the invitation of Overstreet. It was a place he periodically went to hang out with friends and play a few rounds of pool. The night started uneventfully. Collins saw some buddies at the bar and grabbed a stool. He ordered a Zima and went to the bathroom. When he returned, he saw Overstreet at a table with another friend. Collins grabbed his Zima and went to say hello. He knelt down and chatted for a few minutes. As he got up, he leaned over and gave Overstreet a hug. He was always hugging people, his mother says. Then it began. The bearded man sitting across the table stood up. He pulled a gun from beneath a black trench coat and looked Collins in the eye. The man fired. A bullet pierced Collins' stomach. "It was so fast," Collins said. "I said to myself, 'This isn't happening.' I looked down and saw the blood, and it started burning. It was a terrible, terrible burn. I went down to the floor. I was crawling toward the door. The pain was so intense, and there was so much blood." While crawling, Collins felt Overstreet latch onto his legs. The man was still shooting, so Collins stopped, thinking that if he wanted to survive, he had better play dead. Then the pop-pop-pop that sounded more like firecrackers than bullets stopped. The man stepped over Collins and headed for the door. Collins, on his side, felt the long coat rake across his shoulder. When the man left, pandemonium grew as patrons tried to help the wounded. Overstreet, shot in the chest, was dead. Collins and five others were rushed to the hospital. Monday, he and one other victim, Iris Page Webb of Dublin, remained at Roanoke Memorial. Webb, shot in the neck, still is in very serious condition. Collins, speaking calmly, said the reality of what happened hasn't quite sunk in. He does know, however, that he's angry. He's angry that his friend had to die. Angry that he is in so much pain. Angry that a stranger so filled with hate changed so many lives forever. National gay and lesbian activist groups have called the shooting one of the worst anti-gay attacks in U.S. history. In his hospital room, his mother pleads with him not to hate. Hate, after all, is what brought him here in the first place. But Collins is adamant. "I don't know if I can ever forgive him," he said. "Maybe eventually. It'll give me some time to figure out why. But when you kill a man right in front of me who means something to me, then right now I can hate this man." Since the shooting, Collins has had nightmares in which he relives the scene again and again. He knows that once he gets out of his hospital bed, he'll have a huge task before him. He'll have to come to grips with the fact that Overstreet, a perpetually happy man who was the brother Collins never had, is gone. "The doctors want to get my body working before I start dealing with my mind," Collins said. "I haven't had time to mourn his death yet. That's coming." - Del. Richard Cranwell says he's rethinking his position: Activists ask lawmakers to expand hate-crime laws to protect gays -- Some officials oppose hate-crime laws, saying all crimes should be punished regardless of who the victim is Mike Hudson (Roanoke Times) 26 Sep 00 In the wake of a shooting spree in Roanoke, gay-rights activists are pushing to expand state and federal hate-crime laws by including attacks based on sexual orientation. The Friday night violence at a bar that is frequented by gays and lesbians has prompted a Roanoke Valley legislator to rethink his opposition to including anti-gay violence in the provisions of Virginia's hate-crime law. "What it has pointed out to me is there is a lot of diffuse hate out there," Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, said Monday. "This is something that will tear our society to shreds if we don't get a handle on it." Opponents of hate-crime laws say they are unnecessary because crimes such as assault and murder can already be prosecuted under criminal statutes. Supporters say violence motivated by hatred of a group warrants extra law enforcement and tougher punishments because the violence not only harms the victim but intimidates the whole group. On the federal level, gay activists are asking Sen. John Warner, R-Va., to reconsider his opposition to legislation that would expand the definition of hate crimes. Passage of the provision would give federal law-enforcement agencies the authority to investigate and prosecute crimes that target gays and lesbians. Warner is a member of the House-Senate conference committee where the hate- crime bill is stuck. A letter from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force says Warner "has the ability and therefore responsibility to ensure that the existing federal hate-crimes law is expanded to cover crimes based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender or disability." A spokesman for the task force said the letter is being circulated among gay activists in Roanoke to get their signatures before it is sent to Warner. Carter Cornick , a spokesman for Warner, said the senator is "profoundly concerned about what occurred n Roanoke." He said Warner has opposed the hate-crime provision, which has been attached as an amendment to a defense bill, because it might threaten military funding, because it might not survive constitutional review, and because it might overrule tougher state hate-crime laws. Warner did support a study proposal aimed at finding out whether there are hate crimes that are not being prosecuted at the state level. Roanoke police say the suspect in the Friday night shootings expressed a desire to kill gay people and was searching for a gay bar when he entered the Backstreet Cafe and opened fire. One person was killed and six others were wounded. Virginia's hate-crime statute makes it a felony if someone assaults another person based on the victim's race, national origin or religion. A conviction carries a mandatory 30-day sentence. Attempts to add sexual orientation to the law have failed in recent years. Cranwell has voted against the expansion, saying he had qualms with using the status of the victim as a way of elevating the perpetrator's punishment. Once you start adding protected groups, he has said, "where does it stop?" ranwell said an expanded hate-crime provision wouldn't make any difference in the case of Ronald Edward Gay , the man held in the Backstreet Cafe shootings. Don Caldwell, Roanoke's commonwealth's attorney, has said Gay "is looking at being locked up for the rest of his life." Prosecutors plan to bring Gay to trial on a first-degree murder charge along with several felony counts of wounding and firearms violations. In light of the shootings, Cranwell said Monday an expanded hate-crime law might be one way of sending a message that "hate based on status" is not acceptable. Other legislators continue to oppose including sexual orientation in the Virginia law. Asked about efforts to expand the hate-crime law, Del. Morgan Griffith, R- Salem, said: "Gee, I thought they'd be pushing to allow law-abiding citizens to arm themselves in restaurants. Because those who are determined to commit crimes are going to have the guns." Having guns probably would not have protected the first victims, Griffith said, but "based on what I've read, you would have to wonder how many of those other folks would be in serious condition" if they'd had weapons to defend themselves. As for the hate-crime law, Griffith said he didn't believe it was right to single out any group of victims for special provisions in the law. "Anybody who's assaulted or wounded or maimed ought to expect the law to punish the perpetrator no matter what the underlying motive is," he said. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 23 states and the District of Columbia include sexual orientation in their hate-crime statutes. Virginia is one of 17 states that does not. (Ten states have no hate-crime laws.) Del. James Almand, D-Arlington, and state Sen. Patsy Ticer, D-Alexandria, have been the perennial sponsors of legislation to expand hate-crime provisions to include anti-gay violence. Both said they will try again when the General Assembly meets in January. Each year, Ticer said, her bill has come a little closer to passing. Last year it fell one vote short of gaining committee approval and coming to a vote in the full Senate. "I will keep trying," Ticer said. "And I think with each vicious crime that gets publicity, people will get to know the innocent faces of the victims. Then I think people will open their hearts." - He wants Roanoke police to protect him He wants protection from Roanoke police: Anti-gay minister says he'll protest at Overstreet funeral -- Police plan to do whatever they can to accommodate the gay community this week, said a spokeswoman. Cody Lowe (Roanoke Times) 27 Sep 00 As the Roanoke Valley proceeds with its mourning of Danny Overstreet, killed Friday in the Backstreet Cafe, some familiar signs will be visible at his funeral and vigil. "God hates fags." "AIDS cures fags." "No tears for queers." The Rev. Fred Phelps and his family from Topeka, Kan., "have got our bags packed" for a trip to Roanoke, he said Monday. The luggage will include the signs that have become a familiar sight in recent years at the funerals of gays and at gay pride events around the country. Phelps, pastor of a small Primitive Baptist church, says the Bible teaches that God hates some sinners, as well as the sins they commit. His Web site defends the practice of picketing at funerals as a way "to warn the people who are still living that unless they repent, they will likewise perish. When people go to funerals, they have thoughts of mortality, heaven, hell, eternity, etc., on their minds. It's the perfect time to warn them of things to come. Is it mean, hateful, uncompassionate, etc.? I'm sure it is, according to your standards. However, according to my standards, it would be infinitely more mean, hateful, uncompassionate, etc., to keep my mouth shut and not warn you that you, too, will soon have to face God." Phelps also is motivated by political concerns, arguing against the passage of hate-crime laws. "We say all crimes are the same, all victims ought to be treated the same." "We've been victims lots of times" of vandals who have attacked his church and counter-protesters, he said, but "they don't call that a hate crime." In Seattle recently, Phelps said it took 100 police officers to protect him and other pickets from a hostile crowd. "That would be all the city needs for that guy to show up," said Lt. William Althoff, head of the Roanoke City Police Department's criminal investigations division. Police here have been monitoring Phelps' Web site. Phelps said he will have a lawyer meet with police before he pickets to impress on them the need for protection. Roanoke police plan to have uniformed officers and plainclothes detectives at the vigils and the funeral, Althoff said. We have concern for the victims and his family," Althoff said. "We want the gay community to know we're not there to spy on them; we're there to ensure their safety. We're aware and concerned about copycat crimes." Police spokeswoman Shelly Alley, talking about the events planned by the gay community, added: "Whatever we can do to accommodate them this week, we'll do." The Rev. Jerry Falwell called Phelps "another idiot" in an interview Monday in which he condemned the killing of Overstreet. "It is a terrible thing when a bigot or even a deranged person because of his hatred sets out to hurt another human being." If shooting suspect Ronald Gay "is not deranged, I'm sure he will be penalized to the full extent of the law, which in my opinion should be execution." Falwell said the shooting does not increase the urgency for continued talks such as those he had with gay rights advocates, led by the Rev. Mel White, last fall. "I don't think for a moment that the man who pulled the trigger had just left a Billy Graham crusade," Falwell said. "Preaching against the sin of homosexuality is the responsibility of every minister who takes the Bible seriously. ... I don't believe preaching God's truth in love ever engenders violence." Falwell "is a media genius," White said. "He knows the answer for every question, but they're the wrong answers." White was a ghost writer for Falwell and other evangelical Christian leaders until he acknowledged his homosexuality. With his partner, he now directs an organization called SoulForce advocating nonviolent passive resistance to bring attention to gay and lesbian concerns. "I'm glad Fred Phelps is going to be there with those sickening, revolting, hateful signs. At least in Fred Phelps we see what Jerry Falwell is really like at heart. ... At least Phelps is honest enough to be open and not hide behind a patina of self-righteousness. "We need Phelps to hold up his signs to see what we are really up against. "I sat down with him for an hour and a half one time," White said. "He believes every word on those signs, that if he doesn't shake us loose, we'll not find the kingdom of heaven. "I'm hoping like everything that we won't hurt Fred Phelps, take our anger out on him, and make him a martyr." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- OBITUARY Olga Vysotskaya AP 26 Sep 00 MOSCOW -- Olga Vysotskaya, whose 60 years as a broadcaster included announcing the defeat of Nazi Germany over Soviet radio, died Tuesday, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. She was 94. Vysotskaya broadcast many events during the era of dictator Josef Stalin. She later moved to television and was involved in some of the first broadcasts by Communist Party-controlled television -- the only television news media that existed in the Soviet Union. The government gave her many awards, including the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. - * * * * * In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. __________________________________________________________________________ FASCISM: We have no ethical right to forgive, no historical right to forget. (No permission required for noncommercial reproduction) - - - - - back issues archived via: <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/tinaf/> --- Sponsor's Message -------------------------------------- Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR http://click.topica.com/aaaaq0bz8SnrbAjwjxc/NextCardAd2 ------------------------------------------------------------ ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
