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When leaving Chez Est, a gay bar in
Hartford, Reihl met two teenage boys, Marcos Perez and Sean Burke, in the bar's parking lot. He invited the two to his home in Wethersfield, which the boys accepted. After arriving, the boys confronted Reihl inside his home, with Burke trying to hit Reihl with a
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During the trial, Burke's defense lawyer attempted to lessen his sentence to 25 years by citing Burke's incarcerated father and "homophobia amongst most young people" as contributing factors to the murder. This argument did not sway
Superior Court Judge Raymond R. Norko, who, when imposing the
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Reihl's murder incited
Connecticut's LGBT community. Within three weeks of Reihl's death, the Connecticut Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project was formed. LGBT community members sat in on the court hearings in the case, to be able to challenge any homophobia that might have arisen during the
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fireplace log. Reihl ran outside and gave the boys money in hopes of being left alone. The two boys proceeded to duct-tape his mouth and hands before continuing to beat him. They left briefly, before returning to make sure Reihl was dead.
40:. He had attended Boston University, where he earned a degree in computers. At the time of his death, he was studying for a master's degree in Business Administration at the University of Hartford. He worked as an insurance analyst for
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man, was murdered by two teenagers. Reihl's murder has been cited as a watershed moment for the LGBT community in
Connecticut, and the anger surrounding his killing led to the passing of hate crime legislation in the state.
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Both Perez and Burke were convicted in late 1989, and were given sentences of 35-40 years of prison time. Burke successfully applied for an early release from prison in 2006. Perez died in 2015, from a drug overdose.
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legislation which included sexual orientation as a protected class. The Anti-Violence
Project documented more than 250 incidents of anti-gay violence as evidence for the need for protective legislation.
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On June 3, 1988, Marcos Perez confessed that he and Burke had murdered Reihl. The two turned themselves in, and both Perez and Burke pled guilty, with Burke pleading under the
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sentence, told Burke that he was "a person who has destroyed a wonderful life, a person, Sean, I wish you would have become, who you could have looked up to".
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with the help of two other accomplices. Burke had already been implicated in four other crimes, and was involved with a group who planned to assault gay men.
44:, and also taught economics at Hartford's Fox Middle School. His friends and family recalled him as a positive role model who was interested in photography.
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in 1990, Connecticut passed a hate crime law that included sexual orientation in its list of protected classes. The following year, the state's
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passed a bill which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in credit, education, employment, and housing.
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The day before Reihl's murder, 16-year-old Marcos Perez and 17-year-old Sean Burke robbed a gay man in
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The Gay
Decades: From Stonewall to the Present : the People and Events that Shaped Gay Lives
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201:"Richard Reihl: The Hate Crime That Became a Turning Point for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights"
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On the political side of things, community members pushed for the state to pass
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145:"This Week in Connecticut History: Reihl murder case changes LGBTQ laws"
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398:"Defendant in infamous hate-crime case asks for reduced sentence"
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Reihl's body was later discovered by two newspaper carriers.
346:"Teen's account of gay slaying: 'This guy's going to die'"
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284:"Teenager gets 40 years in 'gay bashing' death"
252:"Richard Reihl's Death: A Gay Rights Watershed"
110:In 2019, Connecticut passed a bill banning the
473:Violence against gay men in the United States
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205:Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project
36:Richard Reihl was 33 years old and lived in
422:"Homophobic killer gets reduced sentence"
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373:"Youth Draws Prison in 'Gay Bashing'"
282:Dupuis, Mark A. (November 28, 1989).
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478:Violence in Connecticut
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320:978-0-452-26810-4
250:Campbell, Susan.
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118:References
97:hate crime
32:Background
67:Aftermath
426:PinkNews
149:WTNH.com
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87:Legacy
55:Murder
42:Aetna
315:ISBN
350:UPI
288:UPI
25:gay
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