THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

The Feb. 15 edition of Frontline on PBS, Channel 11, is called "Assault on Gay America." It's timed for the anniversary of the Feb. 19, 1999 murder of Billy Jack Gaither, a 39-year-old computer programmer from Sylacauga, Ala. He was brutally beaten with an axe handle. His throat was cut, and his body was set on fire. Charles Butler, 21, and Steven Mullins, 24, were convicted of the crime. Mullins later testified he killed Billy Jack because Billy Jack was "queer" and had made a pass at him. Jury selection for the trial was difficult—many called for duty said that they didn't know whether they could render a fair verdict, because the Bible tells them that homosexuality is a sin.

In "Assault on Gay America," producer Claudia Pryor Malis and correspondent Forrest Sawyer explore the nature of homophobia in America, both as a catalyst for hate crimes and as an attitude that permeates public life. "We move from the exploration of the hate crime against Billy Jack Gaither to the larger question of how much homophobia we share as a society," says Pryor. "We examine the possible links between the forces that drove them to kill, and the forces that fuel homophobia in the general law-abiding public."

Billy Jack Gaither's sister Kathy, who is also gay, tells Frontline that her brother never formed a long-term relationship with another man, because it would have forced his parents to face the truth about their son. "I think he respected them to the point where he put that aside. His parents meant that much to him. He wasn't going to do nothing to offend them or disrespect them," Kathy Gaither says. She also says that Billy Jack was worried about two men who had been propositioning him and wouldn't leave him alone. She believes the men Billy Jack spoke of, one month before his death, were his killers. Billy Jack's brother, Ricky, feels Butler and Mullins "lied" when they claimed Billy Jack had propositioned them. "Billy wouldn't approach anybody that didn't approach him. He didn't push himself on people ... . I think it was a cover-up."