Rosendall writes Metro Weekly on community cooperation in Tyra Hunter case
Sunday, August 15, 1999
To the Editor of Metro Weekly
[by email to editor@metroweekly.net]
Sheila Alexander-Reid's final comments in MW's August 12 interview gave the impression that people who are not black or transgendered have not protested the District government's actions in the Tyra Hunter case. As it happens — although we are not a predominantly black or transgendered organization — the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance has exerted a good deal of leadership in the case.
Early in 1998, we persuaded the DC Corporation Counsel to withdraw two especially offensive arguments from its brief in Margie Hunter's civil suit against the city. This past June, at the first meeting of Mayor Williams' gay and lesbian advisory committee, I personally presented the Mayor with over 500 signatures on a petition urging the city to withdraw its challenge and pay Mrs. Hunter the jury award. That petition (which I drafted as GLAA Public Safety Chair) was both distributed and signed by a diverse assortment of people. We also distributed flyers encouraging direct emails to the Mayor (mayor@dcgov.org). In addition, DC Coalition President Everett Hamilton drafted a group letter to the Mayor which was signed by a variety of community leaders.
When I presented the petitions to Mayor Williams in June, he said that the City deserved criticism for its handling of the case, and announced that he will seek to settle the case with Mrs. Hunter. So far there is no evidence that the DC Corporation Counsel has moved an inch on the case, so we still have our work cut out. But — precisely because Reid is right about the problem of segregation in our community — it is important that the efforts that some of us are making to bridge those divides be recognized.
Visit GLAA online at http://www.glaa.org for more info on the Tyra Hunter case and other current issues.
Sincerely,
Rick Rosendall
Public Safety Chair
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
