Gay Man Sues Local Town Officials Charging Homophobia and Racism After His House Is Burned Down

‘What’s Going to Happen When Your House Burns Down and We Don’t Send Out the Fire Trucks?’

A gay man has filed a federal lawsuit charging months of homophobic and racist abuse against him, his husband, and their son. Randy Gamel-Medler says officials in his small Oklahoma town conspired to force the family out and at one point even refused to even allow him to file a police report. The lawsuit names nine defendants.

“We were terrorized, murder threats were made against our seven year-old African-American son,” Randy Gamel-Medler, who worked as the town clerk, told HRC. “Town officials conspired to run us out of office, all while local law enforcement ignored our pleas for help. We are now left with the last 27 years of our life literally erased. What do we do now?”

The family moved from Texas to Blaine County, Oklahoma and bought a fixer-upper in Hitchcock.

“Gamel, 59, suggests in a federal lawsuit filed this week in Oklahoma City that community leaders tried to force him out because he was gay and because he and his partner brought a black child into the nearly all-white town,” the AP reports. “Others, including a sheriff’s official named in the lawsuit, say it was Gamel’s behavior, not homophobia or racism, that led to problems. A criminal investigation into the fire is pending.”

The allegations of abuse are stunning.

“Gamel-Medler, a white gay man with a seven year-old African-American son, was first threatened in September 2016 at a town council meeting only one month after moving to Hitchcock, Oklahoma.” HRC says. “Upon learning that Gamel-Medler had an African-American son, defendant Meradith Norris, a town of Hitchcock Trustee, asked, ‘What’s going to happen when your house burns down and we don’t send out the fire trucks?’ In response, Gamel-Medler filed a police report, but no criminal action was taken.”

Earlier this year, according to the HRC report, another incident occurred:

“In early May 2017, Gamel-Medler was performing his duties as town clerk by clearing an obstruction from the road when he was assaulted by defendant Jonita Pauls Jacks, who tried to enter Gamel-Medler’s truck and then after realizing it was locked began shaking the truck, called him a ‘f***ing queer,’ and stated, ‘I’m going to grab your little boy, rip his n***er head off, and sh** down his throat.’ When Gamel-Medler attempted to file a police report after this incident, he was informed that the mayor had already described this incident to the police. The Deputy Sheriff refused to take a report, said that this is just how these folks are, and characterized the incident as free speech.”

In May, when his house burned down, Gamel-Medler says townspeople including the mayor, “sat and watched with his family in lawn chairs.”

Over the next several weeks, the complaint states that one or more of the defendants threw gravel several times at Gamel-Medler’s home, posted a sign outside of the post office stating that “the town clerk is a “f***ing queer,” and attempted to run a friend of Gamel-Medler’s off of the road.

On May 28, the complaint notes that Gamel-Medler heard the sound of glass breaking in his garage and called the Sheriff’s office to report a burglary. He then saw a fire in his garage and called the fire department. Despite the fire department being located one block away from Gamel-Medler’s home, the fire department failed to arrive until the house had burned to the ground. While the house was burning, a number of the named defendants watched it burn, including Mayor of Hitchcock Rick Edsall, who sat and watched with his family in lawn chairs.

Local Oklahoma station News 9 reported on the lawsuit (video above) and notes the mayor disputes the allegations.

“Our fire department – a volunteer fire department – was at the fire within six minutes, putting the water on it,” he said. “I was in my robe, fixing to go to bed when I heard the ruckus, and I went down there and grabbed a hose and started spraying.” 

Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director Troy Stevenson issued a statement via Facebook:

“We must not forget that after years of progress, crimes of bias still exist. The allegations in Hitchcock are horrific, and show the intersection of hate aimed at the both the African-American and LGBTQ Communities. Freedom Oklahoma stands with all victims of bias, and will work vigilantly to ensure the state of Oklahoma passes Bias-Crime Protections for all Oklahoman.”

MetroWeekly adds: 

“The horrific treatment of this man and his child are a terrible reminder of how hatred and bigotry feed off of each other,” Mark Hammons, Gamel-Medler’s attorney, said in a statement. “I hope this lawsuit will bring justice for him and social awareness for everyone.”

“No family should live in fear or have to endure harassment and threats based on racism and homophobia,” Shannon Price Minter, the legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in a statement. “We must hold those government officials, members of law enforcement, and others accountable.”

Hat tip: On Top

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