Subject: NGLTF PRESS: Conviction in Laurel Murder Trial
From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 17:40:05 -0500

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National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
NEWS RELEASE

Contact:  Robin Kane         (202) 332-6483 ext. 3311
                                         (800) 757-7736 pager
               Beth Barrett      (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215

2320 17th Street NW   Washington, DC   20009
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CONVICTION IN LAUREL MURDER TRIAL

Jury Rejects HIV and Gay Panic Defense

Washington, D.C. --  February 13, 1995 -- Rejecting the HIV and gay panic
arguments of the defense, a jury convicted Marvin McClendon, 17, Friday for
the slaying of two gay men near Laurel, Mississippi .  Circuit Judge Billy
Landrum, who earlier had released the HIV status of both victims to the jury,
sentenced McClendon to two consecutive life prison terms for the murders of
Robert Walters and Joseph Shoemake.

 The defense attorney, J. Ronald Parrish, whose legal defense strategy
included arguments based on the the HIV status and sexual orientation of the
victims, continued his anti-gay tirade after the trial.  Parrish decried the
verdict, calling it a defeat for "people who want to keep their children safe
from people trolling the streets."

 "NGLTF is pleased that the jury saw past the AIDS-phobic and homophobic
rhetoric presented by the defense in this case."  said Beth Barrett, NGLTF
spokesperson.  "The jury recognized that HIV status is never an excuse for
murder."

 "It is unfortunate that, even after the trial, the defense attorney
continues to use outdated stereotypes and homophobia in an attempt to defame
the gay and lesbian community of Mississippi," Barrett added.

 NGLTF will continue to monitor developments in Mississippi.  Organizers
point to the murder of a third gay man under strikingly similar circumstances
in Indianola and the potential for continued tension at the lesbian-feminist
retreat, Camp Sister Spirit, in Ovett, as reasons for their concern.

 "Given the murders and the history of harassment in Mississippi, we continue
to be deeply concerned for the safety of gay men and lesbians in that state,"
Barrett said.

 A 12 member jury, including five African-American jurors, convicted
McClendon, who is black, of the murders of the two white men.  Their bodies
were discovered near a railroad track outside of Laurel, Mississippi on
 October 8, 1994.

-end-