[ Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Prof. Pearson
Date: 1/31/01
Time: 12:02:23 PM
Remote Name: 159.91.92.113
Class, You may remember the case of Pfc. Barry Winchell, who was murdered on his base by fellow soldiers who thought he was gay. The murder led President Clinton to pronounce his "Don't ask, don't tell," policy a failure. It turned out that Winchell's lover was a pre-operative male to female transsexual named Calpernia Adams. I thought you might be interested in this commentary from a producer for QT, Queer Television. There is also a link to their interview with Adams.
In the Media Eye
A baseball bat shattered the night and the lives of the people who loved Barry Winchell. A national holiday was forever stained with his murder. Mainstream media poured into his world and small changes for many emerged from a huge loss for the few.
Without the media coverage, Barry's murder may have been dismissed as a personal quarrel of less magnitude, and he most certainly would not have been the change agent he was with respect to the strengthening of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the US military.
But we also re-open the wounds for his family and his lover every time we tell his story. Their lives too are now public, and one person in particular is paying an additional emotional price. Calpernia Addams had found someone who suited her, and loved her for her true self. She wanted nothing more than to have a quiet life with such a person, blending in with the rest of society. She did not want to be forced to tell the world that she was born with a Y chromosome and had lived as a male for 25 years. She wanted people to see her as she is today, not as she was in the past. But in order to help achieve justice for Barry's murder, she felt compelled to take on yet another role, that of activist. http://www.qtonline.com/columns/behindthescreens/calpernia.asp