[Alleged beating of elderly homosexual man proven false.]

Dr. Donald E. Wildmon, founder and chairman of the American Family Association (AFA), says he does not expect any retraction of accusations by homosexual activists -- but he does expect them to continue their push for "hate crimes" legislation, regardless of the facts. He recalls similar reaction to a highly publicized incident in October 1998.

"This really calls to mind the incident in Wyoming a few years ago [when] a young man named Matthew Shepherd supposedly ... was beaten because he was a homosexual," says Wildmon. "The truth later came out that the people who beat him to death did not even know he was a homosexual; they were robbing him."

An incident such as the Shepherd case, says the AFA founder, "gets big play early on" -- but despite later findings, "it's planted in the minds of people who don't hear the truth."

Law enforcement authorities in Detroit say they now consider the Anthos case closed. But at least one Detroit-area homosexual advocacy group, the Triangle Foundation, is hopeful the police will take into account the testimony of Anthos and continue to pursue the case, despite the physical evidence casting doubt on his claims.

Conservative and Christian leaders have argued for years that, if "hate crimes" legislation became law, it could become illegal for pastors to preach from the Bible regarding homosexuality.