"People who would criticize this, regardless of who came out with it,
are people with bad hearts," said Jerald Newberry,
who directs the NEA's health information network

Anti-Gay Slurs Painted on Home In Alexandria

Reprinted from:

Tuesday, April 28, 1998; Page D02

Anti-Gay Slurs Painted on Home In Alexandria

By Washington Post Staff

Jerald Newberry was the victim of a hate crime at his home in Alexandria, VA.

Vandals painted anti-gay slurs on an Alexandria town house and on a fence shared by several homes early Sunday, police and the owner of the town house said yesterday.

Jerald Newberry, 50, woke up at 6 a.m. Sunday to find slurs written in fluorescent orange spray paint on the side of his home and the fence he shares with his neighbors in the 1200 block of Quaker Hill Drive. Newberry estimated that cleanup will cost more than $1,000. Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley (D) and several council members stopped by Sunday to commiserate over the damage, he said.

Newberry, who is gay, became a lightning rod for criticism when he supported teaching about homosexuality while in charge of sex education for the Fairfax public schools. He now works for the National Education Association. He said he had no idea what could have prompted the graffiti.

Alexandria police spokeswoman Amy Bertsch said police are investigating the incident as a destruction of private property crime and a potential hate crime.