Date: Wed, 6 Oct 1999 15:46:58 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: SECOND TRIAL IN SHEPARD MURDER BEGINS OCTOBER 11 MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Wonbo Woo, GLAAD phone: (212) 807-1700 x24 pager: (800) 689-0196 e-mail: woo@glaad.org Sean Kosofsky, Triangle Foundation phone: (313) 537-3323 e-mail: pride69@aol.com SECOND TRIAL IN SHEPARD MURDER BEGINS OCTOBER 11 NATIONAL MEDIA ADVOCACY AND ANTI-VIOLENCE GROUPS TO SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO ASSIST LOCAL COMMUNITY AND MEDIA PROFESSIONALS NEW YORK, NY, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1999 - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) today announced that they will send representatives to Laramie, Wyo., for the start of proceedings in the trial of Aaron McKinney, the second man to face charges in the murder of Matthew Shepard. Jury selection in the trial begins Monday, Oct. 11. GLAAD Director of Community Relations Cathy Renna and NCAVP Steering Committee member Jeffrey Montgomery will be on-hand to provide analysis of the trial and its ramifications as a means of assisting both members of the media and the local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied communities. Both Montgomery and Renna will be available for comment throughout the week of the trial proceedings, and will be in contact with other local and national community members willing to speak about a wide range of implications connected with Shepard's murder and McKinney's trial. Since pagers and cellular phone service are unavailable in Laramie, any interviews for Renna and Montgomery should be scheduled through GLAAD's Communications Manager Wonbo Woo (see above for contact information). "We at NCAVP know all too well the potentially damaging impact of misrepresenting the nature of crimes committed against members of our community," said Montgomery. "Matthew's death served as a wake-up call to people across the country. Hate crimes happen in all our hometowns - just as they do in major metropolises. Our experience tells us that when there is a high level of attention to trials like this one, the issues that arise are often examined either far too casually or raised to sensationalize the circumstance. Drawing from our experience with hate crimes from across the country, we hope to provide an informed perspective to all those present in Wyoming on the very real ramifications of this case." GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry concurred, saying, "From the moment we learned of the savage beating of Matthew Shepard, GLAAD understood the enormous impact that media coverage of this issue would have on the American public. We've seen those who might once have walked the line between friend and foe grieve alongside us in the wake of Matthew's murder and the media frenzy it generated. From the first article that appeared in the Denver Post to the flurry of coverage that followed, we were vigilant: applauding those outlets that deserved praise, and reaching out to those who didn't. GLAAD will continue to serve as a resource from Laramie and the steps of its courthouse, by monitoring forthcoming coverage and forging ties between local activists and national media." Montgomery is executive director of the Triangle Foundation in Detroit and serves as a steering committee member and national spokesperson for the NCAVP, of which Triangle is a member organization. Several institutions, including the Detroit City Council, the Detroit Human Rights Commission and the American Civil Liberties Union, have honored him for his extensive work in preventing bias-motivated crimes and anti-gay violence in all forms. Montgomery is highly sought-after for his expertise in violence and hate crimes. Most recently, he provided his unique perspectives on the criminal trial against Jonathan Schmitz, convicted murderer of Scott Amedure. He was among the most visible spokespersons on the issue, providing Court TV with daily analyses of the trial's impact upon members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Montgomery has consulted with Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, as well as with senior White House policy officials at the request of the Attorney General. Certified by the U.S. Justice Department as a faculty trainer in the Department's National Hate Crime Curricula, he further serves on the Detroit Police Department's Crime Prevention Advisory Committee, the steering committee of the Michigan Alliance Against Hate Crime, and was a member of the Michigan Commission on Civil Rights' Bias Crime Response Task Force. Renna, a longtime activist based in Washington, DC, brings extensive experience in media relations and community organizing. Renna was instrumental in the creation of GLAAD's highly sought-after training services program, and regularly trains community members in working effectively with media professionals. Last October, she flew to Laramie to respond to news of the brutal beating of Matthew Shepard, and following his death, worked closely with local students, activists and politicians, coordinating media relations and working to ensure fair and accurate coverage of the incident. Subsequently, Renna revisited Laramie in April, 1999, for the trial of Russell Henderson. Throughout her ten years with GLAAD, Renna has brought together community members and media professionals through her work as a facilitator, panelist, trainer, and organizer of events including highly-publicized protests surrounding defamatory representations in the 1992 film Basic Instinct and a 1997 screening of the historic coming out episode of ABC's Ellen. That screening, which brought 3,000 people together in Birmingham, Ala., proved to be the largest lesbian and gay community gathering in the state's history. A respected and frequently sought-out spokesperson, Renna regularly appears in such media as MSNBC, USA Today, The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Associated Press. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay media advocacy organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of combating homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) addresses the pervasive problem of violence committed against and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive (LGBTH) communities. NCAVP is a coalition of programs that document and advocate for victims of anti-LGBTH violence/harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, police misconduct, and other forms of victimization. NCAVP is dedicated to creating a national response to the violence plaguing these communities. Furthermore, NCAVP supports existing anti-violence organizations and emerging local programs in the efforts to document and prevent such violence. -30- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's QUARTERLY GLAADNOTES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.