Subject: IYF-Interview With Calpernia Adams
From: "Clare Howell" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 08:13:10 -0700

MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Editor: Clare Howell, [email-masked]

AN INTERVIEW WITH CALPERNIA ADAMS
==================================

[Nashville, TN: 6 Sep 99] IN A CASE THAT HAS ATTRACTED
national attention, PFC Barry Winchell was bludgeoned to death
with a baseball bat in his barracks at Fort Campbell, KY on 5
Jul 99. He had been the subject of anti-gay harassment for four
months prior to the murder, from the time he began dating
transgender woman Calpernia Adams. Two soldiers were
charged in the killing: PVT Calvin Glover with wielding the bat,
and SPC Justin Fisher with encouraging Glover, being an
accessory after the fact, and obstructing the investigation.
Military court proceedings are still in the preliminary stage.

    Reportage of this case highlights the difficulties trans-people
present to the mainstream and queer media. The cultural
verities--man, woman, gay, straight--become moving targets
when the press attempts to portray trans-lives. In most media
reports following the murder, Callie Adams’ identity as a woman
was effectively erased. In press reports she became, simply,
'a man.' Ironically, Ms. Adams' trans-identity and the freedom it
gave Barry Winchell may have led to the tragic events in this
story. We interviewed Ms. Adams on 25 Aug 99. An abridged
version of that interview follows. The complete text is available
in the IYF portion of GenderPAC’s website, www.gpac.org.

IYF: In news accounts, you’ve been referred to as ‘a man’ and ‘a
female impersonator.’ How were you approached by the media?

CA: When Barry was murdered, I was very shocked and
confused, and did not realize that it would receive national
attention. It’s hard to remember exactly who spoke to me first
after the incident, but I think it was the local newspaper and the
local CBS station. Before I spoke to them, I was contacted by
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). I think it was
sort of an unspoken general consensus among those I spoke to
that I not correct the initial reports that Barry had been dating ‘a
man.’ I inferred from what they told me that it would be easier
for the public to understand that Barry’s murder was a hate
crime if they referred to me as male.

IYF: How do you feel about that now?

CA: Looking back, I wish I could have had the presence of
mind to clarify things, but I am so insecure in my own identity,
and things were so hectic and scary at that time, I guess
everyone made some bad decisions. Ultimately, I feel like I was
responsible for allowing the media to represent me as a man,
although now I would prefer to be referred to as a
transgendered woman, ‘she’ and ‘her.’

IYF: When, where, and how did you meet Barry Winchell?

CA: Sometime near the end of March, on a Sunday night (the last
night of my workweek) there was a table of four soldiers in our
pretty empty showroom. [Ms. Adams works at The Connection, a
gay/mixed nightclub in Nashville.] Sundays are very low-key, with
a much smaller attendance than other nights, so in between shows
we have more time to come out and meet and greet. The soldiers
had been particularly vocal and excited during the show, so I went
over and was introduced to them. The outgoing ones were the
two straight ones, and they introduced me to Fisher and a very
shy-seeming guy who turned out to be Barry.

    Barry and I were attracted to each other immediately, and we
talked for awhile and he asked me out for the following week.
From there we quickly moved into a full relationship. Barry later
told me that Fisher had been out the previous night (Saturday)
and saw me, and told the other guys, "You have to come see this
girl! She’s amazing!" So that’s why they had been there that
Sunday. Fisher never came out anymore after Barry and I began
dating.

IYF: You mentioned that Barry was ‘polite, calm and masculine.’

CA: Barry was a really a good match for me. He had something
that's hard to find in a man, especially if you are looking for a
man who would be attracted to me. He was old-fashioned,
respectful, and yet totally boyish and manly at the same time.
Very attractive to me physically, emotionally, and mentally.

IYF: I got the impression from earlier comments you made that
Fisher may have had a crush on you and may have been jealous
when you and Barry hit it off. Tell us about Fisher.

CA: I never thought about Fisher much during our relationship.
After Barry told me what I’ve related above, I assumed Fisher
was jealous, but I never thought anything would come of it.
Fisher did have a reputation for being a drunk, short-fused,
and violent, but I assumed never deadly.

IYF: Tell us more about Barry.

CA: Barry was a simple man, and I don’t mean that in a
demeaning way. He was smart and goal-minded, self sufficient
and successful, but he was not pretentious or judgmental. So
many of the people I interact with in my community have been
driven into a mode of constant bitterness, criticism, and cruelty,
and in Barry I only found a simple commitment to his life and the
few people important to him. Barry had an honest, almost child-
like laugh, and his smile was a genuine reflection of his pleasure.
He was a very rare and special man.

IYF: Was he sexually experienced?

CA: Barry had had relationships only with women, as far as I
knew. He told me he had dealt with an attraction to men all his
life, but had not acted on it. He said he was not attracted at
all to masculine people. He wanted the sexual experiences that I
could provide along with the appearance of a female. I was
perfect for his tastes.

IYF: How did he self-identify?

CA: Because of our intimate experiences, Barry said on several
occasions that he felt he was gay, but I suspect that if he had
had time to fully balance everything out, he would have ended up
considering himself bisexual, because I could tell he was still
attracted to women.

IYF: When did the anti-gay harassment he suffered begin?

CA: From the trial I have learned that the same night I chose
Barry, Fisher went back and told everyone he could find that
‘Barry’s gay!,’ so immediately everyone, including superiors,
started on him.

IYF: What did he say about the harassment?

CA: Barry didn’t talk much about it. He mentioned it a few
times, that people had asked him if he was gay, and that he
thought everybody knew, but he kept the worst of it from me.

IYF: Evidently, Barry had a run-in with Private Glover just prior
to the murder. What was that about and what happened?

CA: According to testimony, Glover was always roaming around
looking for a fight, and he picked on Barry about something, and
Barry beat him up. So then Fisher started saying, "You’re not
going to let a faggot kick your ass, are you?"

IYF: Did you know Glover?

CA: No, I never saw him until he was brought into the trial in
chains and leg-irons.

IYF: Is there anything you’d like to add?

CA: I know our relationship was somewhat complicated. We
never expected it to receive such close scrutiny, so there were
some aspects even we hadn’t quite defined or thought out yet.
We certainly expected to have all the time in the world, and
planned to use it, and the fact that that was taken away will
always leave a terrible empty place in my heart.

                        ###

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