Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, December 11, 1998 Page: 1 of 68
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December 1 T, 1398
Volume XV
Number 33
nacE
The Community Newspaper For GayLjkLesbian Dallas
Chisum files anti-gay adoption bill
Pampa Republican also introduces anti-gay marriage bill;
Reps. Danburg, Ehrhardt and others file gay-positive bills
By Tammye Nash
Staff Reporter
Lesbian and gay activists in Texas have
been expecting since last December that
State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa,
would introduce a bill in the Texas
Legislature aimed at keeping lesbians
and gays from becoming adoptive or fos-
ter parents.
Still, when the bill, labeled House Bill
382, was filed on Wednesday,
Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas exec-
utive director Dianne Hardy-Garcia said
she was surprised and disturbed by the
wording of the measure.
"It is very interesting the way he
[Chisum] has actually worded the bill,"
Hardy-Garcia said.
"Actually it's rather frightening and
shocking," she added, noting that the bill
called for investigations into the private
lives of prospective adoptive and foster
parents to determine whether or not they
are engaging in, or even likely to engage
in acts of same-gender sodomy.
But, Hardy-Garcia continued, she does
consider it an advantage that Chisum
included a definition of sodomy in the
bill. "Many people ih the general public
don't really know what sodomy is," she
said. "They don't realize it means oral
and/or anal sex."
Chisum's bill defines "deviate sexual
intercourse" as "any contact between any
part of the genitals of one person and the
mouth or anus of another person" or "the
penetration of the genitals or anus of
another person with an object."
The bill also defines "homosexual
activity" as "deviate sexual intercourse
with another person of the same sex."
The bill would take effect Sept. 1,1999,
. jSjfriV- ■
-w sis
LGRL executive director Dianne
Hardy-Garcia describes the wording
of Chisum’s bill as “frightening” and
“shocking.”
and would apply to any and all adoption
suits or foster parent considerations
pending on or filed by that date.
See CHISUM on Page 10 '
New judge assigned for one of two gay-bashing suspects
McKinney, Henderson enter pleas of not guilty; prosecutor
wants men tried together, may ask for the death penalty
Aaron McKinney, one of two sus-
pects charged in the death of
Matthew Shepard, entered a plea of
not guilty at his arraignment last
week in Laramie.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — A new judge has
been assigned to hear the case of one of
two' men suspected in the murder of
Matthew Shepard, the gay college stu-
dent who was tied to a fence, robbed,
and beaten to death.
Eighth District Judge Barton R. Voigt
of Douglas will take over the case
against Aaron James McKinney, 21,
who is charged with first-degree mur-
der, kidnapping and aggravated rob-
bery in Shepard's death.
Second District Judge Jeffrey A.
Donnell was disqualified from the case
by McKinney's public defenders Dion
Custis and Jason Tangeman last week,
following McKinney's innocent plea.
Both McKinney and Aaron James
McKinney, also 21, entered pleas of
innocent during separate hearings held
in Laramie on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
Under rules reinstituted Monday by
the Wyoming Supreme Court, attor-
neys in criminal and civil cases may
remove a judge without offering a rea-
son, but only once. Donnell signed the
case over to Voigt on Thursday, Dec. 3.
Voigt's district includes Converse,
Niobrara, Platte and Goshen counties,
but McKinney's trial will be held in
Donnell's Albany County courtroom
unless Voigt is persuaded to move it. As
of Friday afternoon, Dec. 4, no change
of venue motion had been filed.
Henderson faces the same charges as
McKinney. His attorney, Wyatt Skaggs,
is fighting an attempt by prosecutor Cal
Rerucha to have the suspects tried
together.
Donnell scheduled a Dec. 10 hearing
on Rerucha's request, but may allow
Voigt to conduct the hearing. Rerucha
has until Dec. 31 to determine whether
he will seek the death penalty.
Shepard was targeted because he
was gay, according to testimony at a
Nov. 19 court hearing. He was lured
Continued on Page 23
FEATURE:
Director John
Maybury dis-
cusses his film
Love is the
Devil and artist
Francis Bacon’s
stormy relation-
Chorale’s
Fireside Chats
concert kicks
off our recom-
mendations for
holiday enter-
tainment.
BOOKS:
Pop star Cher
reveals in her
memoirs how
she went “bal-
listic” when she
first came to
terms with her
daughter’s les-
bianism.
PAGE 36
PAGE 38
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, December 11, 1998, newspaper, December 11, 1998; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616281/m1/1/: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.