The savage murder of a gay man stuns a state where hate-crime laws do not protect homosexuals

"This is not the type of place where this happens," city council president George Carlton told a reporter, after the horror became public in his hometown, Sylacauga, Ala. He echoed what was said in Jasper, Texas, a year ago. Few people then had ever heard of Jasper. A week ago, even fewer could have pointed out Sylacauga on a map. A tiny city of 13,000, halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery, Sylacauga was known for its white marble quarries, textile mills and ice-cream factory. But last week Sylacauga, like Jasper, became a chapter in the recent history of hatred.

According to police, Steven Eric Mullins, 25, and Charles Monroe Butler Jr., 21, plotted for two weeks to murder Billy Jack Gaither, 39. On Feb. 19, they arranged to meet him at a Sylacauga bar and lured him to a secluded area. There they beat him and dumped him into the trunk of his car. They then drove about 15 miles to Peckerwood Creek in Coosa County. There, says Coosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Al Bradley, "they took him out of the trunk, took an ax handle and beat him to death." They set two old tires aflame, says Bradley, "then they put the body on the fire." They did it all, the deputy says, because Gaither was gay.

Gaither’s death has become a rallying point for gay-rights organizations’ and state legislators’ pushing a bill that would extend Alabama’s three-year-old hate-crimes law beyond race, color, religion and national origin to cover crimes related to sexual orientation as well. "It’s unfortunate that somebody had to lose his life in order for this legislation to pick up momentum here in the state of Alabama," says state Representative Alvin Holmes, who failed to get the original law amended when it was passed in 1996. Holmes filed for extending the law after Matthew Shepard, a gay student, was beaten and left to die on a fence in Wyoming last October, an incident that sparked national outrage. Even Wyoming failed to pass hate-crime legislation in the wake of the Shepard lynching. Like Shepard, Gaither did not hesitate to admit being gay, though he adhered quietly to Sylacauga’s Southern dispositions. And friends dispute Mullins’ and Butler’s allegations that a sexual proposition incited the murder. Gaither’s brother Randy told CNN: "Regardless of his personal life or anything, he doesn’t deserve to be killed for this."

"The message people are getting is that gay people are second-class citizens," says Tracey Conaty, spokesperson for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Before Gaither’s murder, activists were planning a major national pro-gay offensive. From March 21 to March 27, the task force will launch its "Equality Begins at Home" campaign, with 250 grass-roots events in all 50 states aimed at passing anti-gay-bashing legislation. Says Conaty: "These laws reflect the conscience of a community and send an important message." The March events, says Urvashi Vaid, director of the task force’s policy institute, will involve straight people concerned about neighbors denied basic human rights. Adds Vaid: "It’s more than just a gay thing."

注(1)：本文选自By Sylvester Monroe Time; 03/15/99, Vol. 153 Issue 10, p47, 2/3p, 3c, 1bw

注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2003年真题 Text 4

1. What is implied in the first two paragraphs?

[A] there are many murders in the recent history of hatred

[B]the murder also happened in Jasper one year ago

[C] it is another case of the gay being tortured to death

[D]the city council president comes from Sylacauga

2. The author uses the example of Matthew Shepard to show that ________.

[A] it is difficult to extend the hate-crime legislation

[B]people want to extend the hate-crime law

[C]the gays are really in a terrible fix

[D] people are indifferent to the gay student

3. Alvin Holmes’ attitude toward the gay victims is _________.

[A]indifferent

[B]sympathetic

[C]outrageous

[D]considerate

4. Similar to Matthew Shepard, Gaither’s death ________.

[A]aroused people’s sympathy for the gay

[B] sharpened people’s awareness

[C]gave legislation some momentum

[D]failed to have any change in the legislation

5. The text intends to express the idea that __________.

[A] people should be concerned about their gay neighbors

[B]the gay people shouldn’t be regarded as second-class citizens

[C] the legislation for the gay still has a long way to go

[D]more pro-gay campaigns should be launched

答案：C A B D C

篇章剖析

本文采用提出问题-----分析问题的模式。第一段和第二段提出问题，详细阐述一起同性恋谋杀案的发生经过。第三段和第四段指出被害人的死造成的影响和反应。第五段指出激进分子的做法及其影响。

词汇注释

homosexual n.同性恋

echo vt.摹仿, 重复

rallying point n.聚集点,号召力

legislator n.立法者

momentum n.动力, 要素

in the wake of adv.尾随, 紧跟, 仿效

lynching n.处私刑

allegation n.主张，断言, 辩解

offensive n.进攻, 攻势

grass-roots adj.一般民众的, 由乡间民间来进行的