From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 15:01:48 EST
Subject: Let Matthew Shepard's Killers Live; Gays Oppose Death Penalty


                                NEWS FROM QUEERWATCH              
              
For Immediate Release                         Media Contacts: Bill Dobbs,
212-966-1091
January 5, 1999                                                    Michael
Petrelis, 415-621-6267


                            LET MATTHEW SHEPARD'S KILLERS LIVE --

                     ACTIVISTS SLAM WYOMING DEATH PENALTY LAW;

 PROMINENT GAY GROUPS SILENT AS PROSECUTOR SEEKS EXECUTIONS

San Francisco, CA - Gay activists are condemning a Wyoming prosecutor's
announcement last week to seek the death penalty against two men charged in
the tragic death of gay student Matthew Shepard.  The activists also denounced
the continuing silence of prominent gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered
organizations about capital punishment as this highly charged murder case
unfolds.

Shepard was killed last October in Laramie, Wyoming.  His brutal death drew
worldwide attention and provoked thousands of memorial candlelight vigils,
rallies and marches to protest anti-gay violence.  Members of Queer Watch, a
gay grassroots group, fear the heated emotions surrounding Shepard's killing
have driven some gay people to seek revenge, rather than justice.  Wyoming has
a death penalty law on the books.

"Putting anyone to death for the murder of Shepard is just as barbaric as
tying the victim to a fence post and leaving him to die in sub--zero
temperatures," said Queer Watch member Michael Petrelis in San Francisco.
"The defendants deserve a fair trial. And if convicted of this heinous crime,
they must be punished."

Not one mainstream g/l/b/t organization has deplored the actions of prosecutor
Cal Rerucha since he filed notices to seek the death penalty. Defendants
Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney face possible execution if they are
convicted of murdering Shepard.  So far, silence has been the only response
from the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force, and a host of gay anti-violence groups who have used
the Shepard killing for political and fundraising purposes.

"The silence of these gay groups may equal death for the alleged killers.  If
they are convicted and sentenced to die, that will not bring Matthew Shepard
back to life," said Bill Dobbs, a Queer Watch member in New York.  "Executions
can not cure hatred of homosexuals in America.  Capital punishment only
accomplishes revenge."

Queer Watch member Jim Eigo said, "Capital punishment is internationally
recognized as a violation of human rights.  When the state disregards human
rights, it is the rights of marginal groups, like gay people, that are most
often violated.  The failure of mainstream gay rights groups to publicly
oppose capital punishment is ultimately a failure to fight for the protection
of the rights of gay people as well."

Queer Watch demands all g/l/b/t advocacy organizations quickly and publicly
oppose the prosecutor's call for the death penalty in the Shepard case.  These
groups must stand with the broader, progressive coalition in the struggle to
end capital punishment.  "Anything less," said Bill Dobbs, "is tantamount to
killing in the name of the gay community."

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