Remembering Our Dead

Pvt. Barry L. Winchell

Pvt Winchell was beaten to death with a baseball bat while he slept by by Justin Fisher and Calvin N. Glover.

He was not trans himself, but was dating Calpernia Addams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpernia_Addams), who is a trans woman.

Glover had attacked Winchell after he had been being goaded and shamed by fellow soldier Justin Fisher for losing a fistfight to Winchell. He had taken a baseball bat from Fisher's locker and struck Winchell in the head with it while he slept on a cot outside near the entry to the room Winchell shared with Fisher. Winchell died from massive head injuries at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center on 6th July.

In 1999, while working as a performer, Addams began dating PFC Barry Winchell. Word of the relationship spread at Winchell's Army base where he was harassed by fellow soldiers and ultimately murdered. Winchell's murder and the subsequent trial resulted in widespread press and a formal review of the U.S. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) military policy, ordered by President Bill Clinton.

The case became a prominent example used to illustrate the failure of DADT to protect LGBT service members. Addams' and Winchell's romance and the crimes of their abusers are depicted in the film Soldier's Girl, released in 2003. A subsequent New York Times article, "An Inconvenient Woman", documented the marginalization and misrepresentation of transgender sexuality even by gay rights activists.

Glover was convicted of Winchell's murder. Fisher was convicted of lesser crimes regarding impeding the subsequent criminal investigation, and both were incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks.

The murder charges against Fisher were dropped and he was sentenced in a plea bargain to 12.5 years, denied clemency in 2003, released to a halfway house in August 2006, and released from custody in October 2006. Glover received a life sentence with the possibility of parole and was released on 27th August 2020.

The movie "Soldier's Girl" tells Barry and Calpernia's story.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/taps-for-barry-winchell-r_b_226004

http://www.calpernia.com/aboutme/soldiers-girl/

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/28/magazine/an-inconvenient-woman.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/army-private-guilty-of-murder/

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2000/05/kentucky-murder-200005

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/aug99/winchell11.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Barry_Winchell

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324013/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier%27s_Girl

Report added: 22 Dec 2018. Last updated: 10 Oct 2021

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