Tragedy in a small town: Rhode Island activist Kate Monteiro talks about how a police department's antigay sting operation led to one man's suicide. (Behind the Headlines).

Stuart Denton began the New Year with everything to live for. The chairman of the Plainfield, Conn., planning and zoning commission and a member of the Republican Town Committee, Denton was well-liked and highly respected among his colleagues and seemed to be at the top of his game.

But everything changed when the popular official and divorced father of a grown son was arrested in a January 16 police raid at a Johnston, R.I., adult bookstore-theater known as a popular cruising spot for gay men. Police released the names, addresses, and occupations of the seven men arrested--including Denton--which local media then reported as well as quoting police calling the men "disgusting" and "a public health hazard. "Four days later, Denton hanged himself.

Outraged activists say homophobia in the police department and the media helped bring about Denton's death and have responded with community meetings and demonstrations. One leader of these efforts is Kate Monteiro, president of the Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights.

What needs to be done to reform police policy?

The Johnston police have to fess up to the fact that they were not doing smart police work. Sting operations are not about protecting the public interest or about preventing criminal activity. If [the town of] Johnston has an issue with [adult] businesses, then Johnston needs to deal with them through licensing boards and zoning. If Johnston has an issue with sexual activity happening in the porno movie theater, then you know how to stop that? You have a guy in a police uniform walk through the porno theater on a regular basis. You don't do it by entrapment. You don't do it by undercover operations.

What about the local media's role in publicizing the incident?

The local media have as much blood on their hands as the police do. It is a matter of public record who gets arrested and what the charges are. But it's The Providence Journal and TV channel 10 who chose not only to publicize who and why and where but also to print their [names, addresses, and occupations]. It was the media's decision to chase people down with cameras at home to try and get them or their families on tape. And they have done so clearly because it sells newspapers and drives television ratings.

One of the thornier questions in cases like this is, What does someone expect, if not arrest, when they have sex in a public place?

In every public sex case, the question is always expectation of privacy. What is defied as public is any place where a reasonable person would be shocked and alarmed to discover someone in that activity. Is a reasonable person [in an adult movie theater] going to be shocked and alarmed to come across men masturbating? I think a reasonable person is highly likely to go, "Yep, that's what I expected to see here." That's how any of [the defendants] could challenge the charges in a court of law.

While this incident has galvanized local lesbians and gays, you are coming to the defense of men who may be married or closeted or do not self-identify as gay.

Those seven men were human beings, and they were treated without human dignity and without human respect. It doesn't matter how they identify. The tool that was used to stigmatize and destroy them was homophobia. When a hate crime occurs, it doesn't matter what the actual orientation of the victim is. What matters is that they were attacked for what they are perceived to be.

What would be the ideal resolution to this problem?

There is no restitution for those seven men. There is no way to restore what has been taken away from them. What you can do is build going forward. Work with the police department or the mayor. If they won't learn, then you make sure they don't get elected next time. You make sure that the seats of power learn and change and get better.