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| At an Alabama Rally, a Father’s Grief Over His Gay Daughter | At an Alabama Rally, a Father’s Grief Over His Gay Daughter |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Follow live results in the Alabama Senate race as they come in. | Follow live results in the Alabama Senate race as they come in. |
| It is not unusual for protesters motivated by personal stories to show up at hotly contested campaigns for elections, like the one taking place on Tuesday for Alabama’s Senate seat. | It is not unusual for protesters motivated by personal stories to show up at hotly contested campaigns for elections, like the one taking place on Tuesday for Alabama’s Senate seat. |
| William Nathan Mathis, a 74-year-old Alabama peanut farmer, was one of them. | William Nathan Mathis, a 74-year-old Alabama peanut farmer, was one of them. |
| When he appeared at a rally for Roy Moore, the Republican candidate, in Alabama’s Wiregrass region on Monday night, Mr. Mathis said in an interview on Tuesday, it was not to cheer the candidate on. He was carrying a placard and a searing memory of a March night in 1995, when he discovered the body of his 22-year-old gay daughter, Patti Sue, after she committed suicide. | When he appeared at a rally for Roy Moore, the Republican candidate, in Alabama’s Wiregrass region on Monday night, Mr. Mathis said in an interview on Tuesday, it was not to cheer the candidate on. He was carrying a placard and a searing memory of a March night in 1995, when he discovered the body of his 22-year-old gay daughter, Patti Sue, after she committed suicide. |
| “Judge Roy Moore called my daughter Patti Sue Mathis a pervert because she was gay,” Mr. Mathis’s hand-lettered placard said. “A 32-year old Roy Moore dated teenage girls ages 14 to 17. So that makes him a pervert of the worst kind.” | “Judge Roy Moore called my daughter Patti Sue Mathis a pervert because she was gay,” Mr. Mathis’s hand-lettered placard said. “A 32-year old Roy Moore dated teenage girls ages 14 to 17. So that makes him a pervert of the worst kind.” |
| “How is my daughter a pervert just because she is gay?” he told reporters. “I don’t know what I will accomplish. I really don’t. I had mixed emotions about coming. But somebody needs to speak up, and if it is all to no avail, so be it.” | “How is my daughter a pervert just because she is gay?” he told reporters. “I don’t know what I will accomplish. I really don’t. I had mixed emotions about coming. But somebody needs to speak up, and if it is all to no avail, so be it.” |
| Mr. Mathis’s appearance at the rally was the latest bit of theatrics in the volatile campaign period pitting Mr. Moore, who has denied allegations of sexual misconduct, against Doug Jones, a Democrat. It also highlighted some of the most contentious issues that have dogged Mr. Moore, a staunch evangelical Christian who has condemned same-sex relations, at the last rally before Tuesday’s voting. | Mr. Mathis’s appearance at the rally was the latest bit of theatrics in the volatile campaign period pitting Mr. Moore, who has denied allegations of sexual misconduct, against Doug Jones, a Democrat. It also highlighted some of the most contentious issues that have dogged Mr. Moore, a staunch evangelical Christian who has condemned same-sex relations, at the last rally before Tuesday’s voting. |
| Mr. Mathis’s stakeout, as he held up a poster of his daughter in basketball gear, drew extensive media coverage, and his remarks on video were viewed nearly 3 million times online. | Mr. Mathis’s stakeout, as he held up a poster of his daughter in basketball gear, drew extensive media coverage, and his remarks on video were viewed nearly 3 million times online. |
| “I was anti-gay myself,” he told reporters. “I said bad things to my daughter myself, which I regret.” | “I was anti-gay myself,” he told reporters. “I said bad things to my daughter myself, which I regret.” |
| Referring to Mr. Moore, he added: “He said all gay people are perverts, abominations. That’s not true. We don’t need a person like this in Washington. That’s why I am here.” | Referring to Mr. Moore, he added: “He said all gay people are perverts, abominations. That’s not true. We don’t need a person like this in Washington. That’s why I am here.” |
| Mr. Moore was a firebrand former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. In a 2002 concurring opinion in a case that granted a lesbian custody of her son, he wrote that homosexual behavior should be a ground for divorce. He called it “an act of sexual misconduct punishable as a crime in Alabama, a crime against nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous that it defies one’s ability to describe it.” | Mr. Moore was a firebrand former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. In a 2002 concurring opinion in a case that granted a lesbian custody of her son, he wrote that homosexual behavior should be a ground for divorce. He called it “an act of sexual misconduct punishable as a crime in Alabama, a crime against nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous that it defies one’s ability to describe it.” |
| In the subsequent interview, Mr. Mathis, a former state representative in Alabama, described finding his daughter with a self-inflicted pistol shot wound to her neck on the floor of the mobile home where she lived on the family farm in Wicksburg. Music was playing softly in the background, he recalled, the details of the moment still sharp in his mind decades later. | In the subsequent interview, Mr. Mathis, a former state representative in Alabama, described finding his daughter with a self-inflicted pistol shot wound to her neck on the floor of the mobile home where she lived on the family farm in Wicksburg. Music was playing softly in the background, he recalled, the details of the moment still sharp in his mind decades later. |
| Mr. Mathis had grown up in Wicksburg, attending a Christian church where the preachers also taught that homosexuality was wrong, he said. | Mr. Mathis had grown up in Wicksburg, attending a Christian church where the preachers also taught that homosexuality was wrong, he said. |
| “I have heard that from the pulpit,” he said. “And seeing real life like it really is, I realized how wrong it was.” | “I have heard that from the pulpit,” he said. “And seeing real life like it really is, I realized how wrong it was.” |
| “I guess that is why I did what I did last night,” Mr. Mathis said in an interview on Tuesday, explaining why he went to the Moore rally. “Because I feel so guilty about it. When I sit back and see politicians jumping on these gay folks, that’s why I did what I did. Somebody has to put a stop to it.” | “I guess that is why I did what I did last night,” Mr. Mathis said in an interview on Tuesday, explaining why he went to the Moore rally. “Because I feel so guilty about it. When I sit back and see politicians jumping on these gay folks, that’s why I did what I did. Somebody has to put a stop to it.” |
| The discovery of Patti Sue’s body marked the end of a family cycle of rejection, acceptance, and finally ultimate loss, Mr. Mathis said. | The discovery of Patti Sue’s body marked the end of a family cycle of rejection, acceptance, and finally ultimate loss, Mr. Mathis said. |
| Patti Sue was a senior in high school when a friend told her parents that their daughter was gay, he said. | Patti Sue was a senior in high school when a friend told her parents that their daughter was gay, he said. |
| “I told my daughter that I would rather my child was dead than to have a gay child,” he said. | “I told my daughter that I would rather my child was dead than to have a gay child,” he said. |
| Patti Sue ran away to live with friends, but returned home after a few months, saying that she no longer “wanted to be gay,” according to Mr. Mathis. | Patti Sue ran away to live with friends, but returned home after a few months, saying that she no longer “wanted to be gay,” according to Mr. Mathis. |
| Mr. Mathis said he and his wife tried to get her medical attention. They took her to a University of Alabama hospital for blood tests, and sent her to psychiatrists. “That is how naïve I was,” he said. | Mr. Mathis said he and his wife tried to get her medical attention. They took her to a University of Alabama hospital for blood tests, and sent her to psychiatrists. “That is how naïve I was,” he said. |
| But the medical professionals told Patti Sue the same thing: “They said, ‘Young lady, there is not a thing I can do to help you. You are who you are.’” | But the medical professionals told Patti Sue the same thing: “They said, ‘Young lady, there is not a thing I can do to help you. You are who you are.’” |
| Mr. Mathis said that eventually Patti Sue forgave him. She took up residence in the mobile home on the 1,000-acre peanut farm and enrolled in nursing school. On the morning of her death, March 29, she filled her car with gas, and dressed in clothes she usually wore when she was going to mow the grass. | |
| “She appeared to be real happy,” he said. | “She appeared to be real happy,” he said. |
| After dark fell that night, a niece came around to Mr. Mathis’s house and said that Patti Sue had the radio on but was not answering a knock on the door. Mr. Mathis went to check, letting himself in with a key. | After dark fell that night, a niece came around to Mr. Mathis’s house and said that Patti Sue had the radio on but was not answering a knock on the door. Mr. Mathis went to check, letting himself in with a key. |
| Mr. Mathis says he cannot bring himself to visit Patti Sue’s grave, even though her mother, Sue, regularly refreshes it with flowers. | Mr. Mathis says he cannot bring himself to visit Patti Sue’s grave, even though her mother, Sue, regularly refreshes it with flowers. |
| “I don’t do that. It upsets me too much,” he said. | “I don’t do that. It upsets me too much,” he said. |
| But after her death, Mr. Mathis built a lake near Wicksburg named after his daughter. “I was trying to help my conscience, so her memory would not die,” he said. | But after her death, Mr. Mathis built a lake near Wicksburg named after his daughter. “I was trying to help my conscience, so her memory would not die,” he said. |