The Daily Agenda for Thursday, February 19

Jim Burroway

February 19th, 2015

TODAY’S AGENDA:
Events This Weekend: Pride, Cape Town, South Africa; Telluride Gay Ski Week, Mountain Village, CO; Elevation: Utah Gay Ski Week, Park City, UT; Arctic Pride, Rovaniemi, Finland; Sydney Mardi Gras, Sydney, NSW.

TODAY’S AGENDA is brought to you by:

From The Advocate, March 5, 1981, page 25

From what I can gather, the Express may have closed sometime in the 1990s, and perhaps re-opened as Deja Vu, and then it became the Express again in 2002 when the club’s last owners bought the business. They kept it going until January, 2013. The building, with the Express sign still visible, was for sale as of April 2014.

Deputies check patrons’ identification during a raid at Hazel’s Inn.

TODAY IN HISTORY:
San Mateo Sheriff Raids Hazel’s Inn: 1956. San Mateo County Sheriff Earl Whitmore, accompanied by deputies, Army military police, state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents and members of the California Highway Patrol, began the raid by striding into Hazel’s Inn, a gay bar in Sharp Park, south of San Francisco, and announced simply, “This is a raid!” Patrons were ordered to line up in single file and pass before a group of officers at the rear of the door. Those who were recognized by undercover agents as being gay were ordered to step to one side and loaded into a waiting van outside. About 88 of the 200 or more patrons were singled out and taken away to be fingerprinted, their mug shots taken, and charged with vagrancy for being a “lewd and dissolute person” and for committing “acts outraging public decency” — common misdemeanor charges used against those deemed to be engaging in “immoral” acts, which in this case was, basically, being caught in a gay bar. The bars owners were also charged with operating a dance establishment without a license (some patrons were seen dancing to a jukebox).

Sheriff Whitmore told the press, “The purpose of the raid is to make it very clear to these people that we won’t put up with this sort of thing.” The American Civil Liberties Union of San Francisco’s Executive Secretary Ernest Besig took exception to that reasoning. “As far as can be ascertained, none of the patrons of the tavern were misbehaving or breaking any laws when the arrests occurred,” he wrote in the chapter’s newsletter. “The complaint seems to be that these men were making the tavern a ‘hang-out.’ Of course, there is no law against that, so long as their activity was lawful. …The ACLU is investigating the matter and the local staff counsel will appear on behalf of some of the alleged homosexuals at the court hearing.”

Those who were arrested were told by law enforcement officers and their bail bondsmen that if they forfeited bail, all further proceedings would be dropped. Thirty took the deal and on March 1, the remaining 57 were arraigned. About 30 entered not guilty pleas and requested jury trials, which were set for March 26 and 27. The judge offered to reduce the charge to disorderly conduct in exchange for guilty pleas, and all but three took him up on that offer. Two of the three were found guilty and one was acquitted.

[Sources: Unsigned. “Civil Liberties Union looks into mass arrests.” Mattachine Review 2, 2nd special issue (March 1956): 4-5.

Unsigned. “American Civil Liberties Union acts to appeal California’s lewd vagrancy laws after convictions resulting from mass raids and arrests.” Mattachine Review 2, no. 3 (June 1956): 3-4, 36.]

Sen. Thomas Kuchel

Sen. Thomas Kuchel

Four Inditced In Gay-Baiting Conspiracy Against U.S. Senator: 1965. A political bombshell landed in Los Angeles when a grand jury returned indictments against four co-conspirators, charged with criminal libel in a campaign against U.S. Sen. Thomas Kuchel (R-CA). Kuchel was a moderate Republican — back in the days when it was still possible to be a moderate Republican — who had drawn the ire of the GOP’s rising right wing. Kuchel, who had served in the U.S. Senate since 1953, had refused to endorse Richard Nixon in his race against Pat Brown, Sr., for governor in 1962, and he had backed New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller during the primary race agaisnt Sen. Barry Goldwater. Kuchel had also served as a co-manager on the floor of the Senate for the Civili Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Amidst the Democratic landslide of 1964 that saw Goldwater’s defeat for President, one ultra-conservative GOP candidate managed to become California’s other Republican Senator: George L. Murphy. Murphy had asked Kuchel for his support, and Kuchel replied that he’d be happy to do so only if Murphy repudiated his ties to the John Birch Society and other extremist groups. Murphy declined, and Kuchel’s refusal to back Murphy led a group of conservative Republicans in the state to decide it was finally time to “get” Kuchel, largely out of the fear that Kuchel might try to run against Ronald Reagan in the 1966 gubernatorial primary. The group began circulating an affidavit signed by Norman H. Krause, a bar owner and former Los Angeles Police Officer, and Jack D. Clemmons, a police sergeant, alleging that Krause had arrested Kuchel in 1950 for public drunkenness and what one columnist called “immorality of a peculiarly revolting kind.” The explosive charges made their way through conservative circles, right wing bookstores, and in several newsletters. They even made their way into the halls of Congress. This presented Kuchel with a dilemma: should he ignore the smear campaign and hope it would go away, or should he give the charges even greater public exposure by going after those who were circulating the affidavit?

Kuchel chose the latter. As he told a Washington Post reporter, “This had to be nailed. It had to be nailed as an outright lie. … I want my name cleared because this is a vicious falsehood, but in addition to that, society has something at stake. If the right wing — or any extremist organization — can by falsehoods, rotten falsehoods, successfully destroy the character of a public servant …. it will frighten good people from becoming candidates for public office and it will intimidate other public servants that the same infamous weapons will be used against them.”

And so on February 19, the Los Angeles County grand jury handed down four indictments. Krouse and Clemens were charged with criminal libel, along with two much bigger fish: California GOP political operative and public relations executive John F. Fergus, and Francis A. Cappel, who published portions of the affidavit in his right-wing newspaper Herald of Freedom. Cappel had also provided copies to the Senate Internal Security subcommittee. Fergus resigned as public relations executive for Eversharp-Schick, of Schick razor fame, which at the time was run by Patrick J. Frawley. Frawly, who also was chair of Technicolor, Inc., sponsored the Christian Anti-Communist Crusade and a host of other extremist right-wing causes. Clemmons, who was still on the police force, also resigned when the indictments were handed down.

Conservatives rallied around the co-conspirators. In April, the California Republican party met to elect new party leaders (and to defeat a resolution against discrimination in voting rights while calling for the repeal of the income tax). One GOP spokesman for the moderate wing disclosed to a reporter: “In the convention we were solicited for a most curious cause. We were asked to help two of the four men currently under indictment for conspiracy to libel Senator Kuchel, the great vote-getter in modern Republican politics.” Pamphlets circulated at the convention addressed to “Dear Fellow Patriots,” described Fergus and Clemmons as “two of California’s most active and dedicated constitutional conservatives… good Americans, who acted in good faith.”

Clemmons and Fergus had refused to testify before the grand jury, but a parade of other witnesses who had come into possession of the xeroxed affidavit did. Most denied circulating it further, and some took the Fifth when asked how they got it. While some witnesses expressed horror at the smear campaign, a few nevertheless justified it. Said one, “Senator Kuchel has provoked a lot of hatred and a lot of resentment.” Eighty-one-year-old Helen Courtois refused to testify, saying that the investigation was “to smear, intimidate and divide the forces of the so-called extreme right, to which I have the honor of being a member. … The net result of the proposed investigation if carried out will be to give aid and comfort to the enemy.” Another witness complained that the grand jury’s investigation of “dedicated citizens” was just the first step in President Johnson’s “order” to “punish those who oppose him.”

Capell, Fergus and Clemmons vigorously protested their innocence. But just before their trial was to take place in June, the three changed their pleas to no contest and signed written apologies and acknowledgments of their “mistake.” Capell and Fergus were fined $500; charges against Clemmons were dropped after he changed his plea and signed the apology. Krause pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

Kuchel’s standing soared due to his willingness to take on the conservative wing of the party. Moderates continued to urge Kuchel to enter the 1966 California gubernatorial primary against Reagan. But by then, Kuchel had had enough with the conservative wing, calling them ” fanatical neo-fascist political cult of right-wingers in the GOP, driven by a strange mixture of corrosive hatred and sickening fear that is recklessly determined to control our party or destroy it. Their un-Republican dogma has no more place in our party than the odious teachings of communism.”

The conservatives struck back however. Kuchel was narrowly defeated in the GOP primary for re-election to the Senate in 1968 by conservative candidate Max Rafferty. Kuchel’s upset loss opened the way for Alan Cranston to win the general election. Kuchel left politics and returned to practicing law until his retirement in 1981. He died in 1994 at the age of 84.

[Additional sources: Richard Corrigan. “A lie that had to be nailed.” The Washington Post (March 14, 1965): E1.

“Three plead no contest and apologize to Kuchel.” The Washington Post (June 29, 1965): A2.

Jack Jones. “2 are fined $500 each in Kuchel case.” The Washington Post (July 20, 1965): A2.]

Billy Jack Gaither Murdered: 1999. The thirty-nine year old Sylacauga, Alabama resident was beaten to death with an axe handle, covered with kerosene, and burned on a pile of old tires. His attackers said that he had propositioned them, so killing him was the only logical thing to do.

On February 19, Billy Gaither went to The Tavern, a Sylacauga nightclub, where he had been friends with the owner, Marion Hammond, for twenty years. Gaither was a regular there, if he wasn’t at the Tool Box in Birmingham forty miles away. Hammond remembered that he was nonchalant about his sexuality. ” If they walked over to Billy Jack and they say, ‘Are you gay?’ he’d say, ‘Yes, and I love it.’ You couldn’t hurt his feelings on it, so we wasn’t worried about it.”

Another regular, Steve Mullins, 25, also started to hang out at the Tavern. His presence wasn’t so benign. He sometimes showed up wearing racist t-shirts and harassing African-American customers. He was known locally as a wannabe tough-acting skinhead. “He tried to walk around like a bully, but he wasn’t,” Hammond said. “He was mostly talk.” His buddy, a construction worker named Charles Butler, Jr., was quieter.

Gaither had a reputation for getting along with pretty much everyone, so nobody’s eyebrows were raised when Gaither left The Tavern that night with Mullins and Butler. The three drove to a remote area where Mullins and Butler beat Gaither, stuffed him into the trunk, and went for supplies: kerosene, matches, an axe handle and old tires form Mullins’s home. They then drove to the banks of Peckerwood Creek in neighboring Coosa County. They poured kerosene on the tires and set them ablaze. Then they pulled Gaither out of the trunk of his car. He tried to stand up and they beat him with the ax handle, cut his throat, and threw him onto the pile of burning tires. They moved Gaither’s car to another dirt road and set it on fire. It was found the next day.

After spending a night in jail for an unrelated offense, Butler went to police to tell them about the murder, saying God told him to confess. Butler claimed the gay panic defense, telling the police, “Well, sir, he started talking, you know, queer stuff, you know, and I just didn’t want no part of it.” Mullins also confessed, with the two blaming each other for taking the lead in the killing, but neither expressing remorse. In June, Mullins pled guilty to capital murder to avoid the death penalty and agreed to testify against Butler, who was also found guilty. he victim’s father, Marion Gaither, had asked that Mr. Butler not be sentenced to death, saying, “I can’t see taking another human beings life, no matter what.” Both men were sentenced to life with out parole.

Lisa Pond (left) and Janice Langbehn (second from right) with three of their four children as they prepared to board an RFamily cruise ship.

Miami Hospital Denies Access to Partner of Dying Patient: 2007. Janice Langbehn, her partner of nearly 18 years, Lisa Pond, and three of their four children flew from Oregon to Miami to board a cruise Miami to the Bahamas. But Pond suffered a brain aneurysm while in Miami before they could board the ship. Pond was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where a social worker told Langbehn that they were in an “anti-gay state” and that they needed legal paperwork before Langbehn could see Pond. But even after a friend in Olympia faxed the legal documents showing that Pond had authorized Langbehn to make medical decisions for her, Langbehn was refused permission to visit Pond or to make any medical decisions. She was even refused basic information about Pond’s condition. It was only because of the intervention by a Catholic priest who was called to perform last rites that Langbehn was able to spend a few minutes with Janice before she died.

After Pond died, the cold shoulder continued. Hospital officials refused to provide Langbehn with Pond’s medical records, and the county refused to provide her with Pond’s death certificate, items needed for their two children’s Social Security benefits. Langbehn sued, but a Federal Judge dismissed the lawsuit, based on the narrow fact that Pond was in the trauma unit where rules about visitation were more restrictive. “The court’s decision paints a tragically stark picture of how vulnerable same-sex couples and their families really are during times of crisis,” said Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. After the Judge’s ruling, President Barack Obama ordered new regulations on hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples for all facilities receiving federal Medicare or Medicaid funds. Those new rules went into effect in 2010. In 2011, Janice Langbehn was named one of thirteen honorees of the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor.

If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?

Ben in oakland

February 19th, 2015

Reading about the Kuchel scandal, the only thing surprising is that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Paul Douglas

February 22nd, 2015

The Lisa Pond story is a tragedy I had forgotten. Florida really is a fu(ked up state.

Leave A Comment

All comments reflect the opinions of commenters only. They are not necessarily those of anyone associated with Box Turtle Bulletin. Comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

(Required)
(Required, never shared)

PLEASE NOTE: All comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

 

Latest Posts

The Things You Learn from the Internet

"The Intel On This Wasn't 100 Percent"

From Fake News To Real Bullets: This Is The New Normal

NC Gov McCrory Throws In The Towel

Colorado Store Manager Verbally Attacks "Faggot That Voted For Hillary" In Front of 4-Year-Old Son

Associated Press Updates "Alt-Right" Usage Guide

A Challenge for Blue Bubble Democrats

Baptist Churches in Dallas, Austin Expelled Over LGBT-Affirming Stance

Featured Reports

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of Hate

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

Paul Cameron’s World

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"

The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing The Myths

At last, the truth can now be told.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.

Testing The Premise: Are Gays A Threat To Our Children?

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Straight From The Source: What the “Dutch Study” Really Says About Gay Couples

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

The FRC’s Briefs Are Showing

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

Daniel Fetty Doesn’t Count

Daniel FettyThe FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.