From: Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 14:02:25 -0500 Subject: NGLTF Flash Points 3/31 NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE FLASH POINTS -- A tip sheet for reporters covering gay/lesbian/bisexual issues Contact: Robin Kane, 202-332-6483, ext. 3311; rakngltf@aol.com March 31, 1995 Pontiac, MI Vigil for Scott Amedure/Arraignment for Jon Schmitz April 4 Issue: Scott Amedure was shot to death March 9 while he stood unarmed in the doorway of his home. Three days prior to his murder, Amedure appeared as a guest at a taping of the Jenny Jones Show focusing on "Secret Admirers." Amedure, who is gay, was invited onto the show to reveal his "secret crush" on another man. That man, Jon Schmitz, is currently under arrest for murdering Amedure. According to police, the suspect bought a shotgun and ammunition, went to Amedure's mobile home and shot him twice in the chest after a struggle. Community organizations in Michigan will host a Candlelight Vigil in Memory of Scott Amedure and other victims of anti-gay violence on Tuesday, April 4, the date of Schmitz's arraignment. The vigil and speakout against homophobia will be held at the Oakland County Courthouse, 1200 Telegraph in Pontiac, at 7 p.m. Another Michigan gay man, Gary Rocus of Dearborn Heights, was murdered in November in a separate anti-gay assault. Speakers include Frank Amedure, Scott Amedure's brother, in the first public comments by a family member since the day after the murder. Also invited are Sen. Carl Levin (D), Rep. Sander Levin (D), State Rep. David Gubow, and representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, the National Organization for Women, Parents of Murdered Children, the Women's Survival Center, the University of Michigan Sexual Assault Prevention Office, Affirmations, and the Triangle Foundation. Local contact: Jan Stevenson, Executive Director of Affirmations (the Lesbian/Gay Community Center) and board member of NGLTF, (810) 398-7105 ext. 14; Jeff Montgomery, Triangle Foundation (anti-violence project), (313) 537-3323. NGLTF contact: Robin Kane, NGLTF Media Director, (202) 332-6483, ext. 3311; 800-757-7736 pager; rakngltf@aol.com. --------------- Anchorage, AK Community Mobilization Against the Right March 31 - April 2 Issue: The state legislature is considering two bills that would ban domestic partnership policies and same-sex marriages in Alaska. Meanwhile, students at the University of Alaska are attempting to add sexual orientation to the school's non-discrimination policy. In this atmosphere, NGLTF field staffers Scot Nakagawa and Curt Shepard were invited to lead a Community-Building Conference to create strategies to defeat the two statewide anti-gay measures, pass the campus non-discrimination policy and build a stronger gay/lesbian/bisexual community in Alaska. The NGLTF conference itself has been the target of full-page anti-gay newspaper advertisements. Local contact: Alison Mendals, Alaskans for Civil Rights, 907-279-5001; Laura Burelson, EQUAL, 907-474-6036. NGLTF contact: Curt Shepard, 213-466-1797, cxsngltf@aol.com; Scot Nakagawa, 503-282-1811, sxnngltf@aol.com; Robin Kane, 202-332-6483, ext. 3311, rakngltf@aol.com. --end--