Mitchell
Katine
still
remembers
the
time
gays
opened
their
wallets
to
help
Tyron
Garner.
It
was
1998.
Garner
and
another
man,
John
Lawrence,
had
been
arrested
after
Texas
police
looking
for
an
armed
intruder
barged
into
Lawrence’s
apartment
bedroom.
Garner
and
Lawrence
were
charged
under
the
state’s
sodomy
law.
Against
all
odds,
they
decided
to
challenge
the
statute.
“There
were
many
people
who
wanted
to
be
involved
and
contribute
money
toward
the
fight,”
said
Katine,
who
was
Garner’s
attorney
in
Texas.
Donations
to
the
case,
Lawrence
v.
Texas,
poured
in
from
across
the
nation.
The
money
helped
bring
the
case
to
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court,
which
ruled
in
2003
that
state
sodomy
laws
were
unconstitutional.
But
three
years
after
the
$750,000
case
ended
and
gay
activists
declared
the
plaintiffs
heroes,
Garner
died
in
poverty
of
complications
from
meningitis.
Family
members
wanted
to
give
Garner
a
casket
and
grave,
but
could
afford
neither.
In
desperation,
they
turned
to
Garner’s
friends
for
help.
Katine,
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
and
Lambda
Legal,
which
bankrolled
Garner’s
legal
battle,
all
sought
donations
to
help
the
family.
Few
came.
Weeks
after
Garner
died
Sept.
11,
little
more
than
$200
had
been
donated.
The
balance
included
$100
Katine
gave
when
he
opened
the
memorial
account.
“People
sent
in
contributions,
but
they
sent
them
in
much
smaller
amounts
than
I
imagined,”
he
said.
“People
were
sending
$10
contributions
and
$20
contributions.”
Katine
said
the
response
was
so
poor
that
Garner’s
family
eventually
abandoned
their
hopes.
The
body
was
surrendered
to
local
officials
Oct.
18
for
cremation
by
the
state
—
an
unceremonious
fate
that
most
often
befalls
the
indigent
or
forgotten.
Garner’s
remains
were
given
to
his
brother,
Darrell.
The
memorial
fund
afforded
him
a
metal
urn.
“I
think
it’s
sad,”
said
Katine,
who’s
gay.
“I’m
not
being
critical
of
the
gay
community.
I’m
saddened
by
it.
I’m
just
saddened
by
not
having
a
better
response
from
the
community.”
H.
Alexander
Robinson,
executive
director
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition,
whose
organization
is
now
working
to
memorialize
Garner,
agreed.
“It
was
really
a
tragic
misstep
on
the
part
of
all
of
us
in
the
community,”
he
said.
“If
we’re
going
to
hold
people
up
as
heroes,
we
should
certainly
treat
them
that
way.”
‘Take
care
of
our
own’
Efforts
to
fund
Garner’s
burial
started
at
Lambda
Legal,
which
sent
an
appeal
to
its
Texas
donors.
“It
was
a
Texas
case,
so
the
thought
would
be
that
we
could
take
care
of
our
own,”
said
Dennis
Coleman,
the
regional
director
for
Lambda
Legal
in
Dallas.
But
the
limited
appeal
yielded
limited
results.
One
week
after
the
appeal
was
made,
the
account
balance
was
$200.
Katine
said
just
a
few
donations
trickled
in
after
that.
“I
didn’t
know
what
to
do,”
he
said.
“So
I
told
the
family,
‘I’m
sorry.
The
response
was
not
as
great
as
I’d
hoped
it
would
be.’”
HRC
spokesperson
Luis
Vizcaino
said
the
organization
tried
to
help
Garner’s
family
by
announcing
the
memorial
fund
in
the
gay
Houston
magazine
OutSmart,
but
the
effort
had
little
impact.
Coleman
said
he
and
others
in
his
office
donated
additional
funds,
boosting
the
account
total
to
about
$760.
Even
with
those
donations,
though,
the
account
couldn’t
fund
a
funeral.
Katine
said
Garner’s
family,
under
pressure
by
morgue
workers
to
dispose
of
the
body,
turned
Garner
over
to
state
officials
for
cremation
Oct.
18.
“I
think
many
people
thought
that
we
wouldn’t
have
any
problem
raising
…
whatever
was
needed,”
Katine
said.
“But
I
think
everybody
thought
somebody
else
was
going
to
do
it.”
Robinson
said
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition,
like
most
national
gay
groups,
was
unaware
of
the
family’s
need
until
it
was
too
late
to
help.
“It’s
something
for
which
we’ve
taken
responsibility,”
he
said,
“and
done
some
self-examination
about
what
we
will
do
to
honor
his
memory.”
Robinson
said
the
coalition
is
now
considering
how
it
can
best
remember
Garner.
“We’re
thinking
of
something
along
the
lines
of
scholarship
programs,”
he
said,
“to
focus
on
black
gays
and
lesbians
looking
at
going
into
the
legal
field.”
Vizcaino
said
HRC,
meanwhile,
is
planning
to
send
$1,000
to
the
Tyron
Garner
Fund
at
Preferred
Bank
in
Houston.
All
money
donated
now
goes
to
Garner’s
family.
Robinson
said
it’s
vital
that
gays
across
the
country
never
again
let
their
heroes
go
unsupported.
“Make
sure
that
you
support
those
people,”
he
said.
“Make
sure
you
know
what
their
needs
are.
Make
sure
you
support
their
family,
and
that
if
ever
a
circumstance
like
this
happens
again,
don’t
assume
that
everything
is
handled.”
