Killer of Gay Man Loses Appeal

@ 2026 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All rights reserved

Killer of Gay Man Loses Appeal
 Advocate.com Editors
          
          Oct 05, 2011
          
        
Advocate.com Editors
 See Full Bio 
A federal appeals court panel upheld the death penalty conviction for Robert Van Hook in the 1985 murder of David Self, whom he met at a gay bar in Cincinnati.

        
        FROM OUR SPONSORS
        
    

        
        The Latest
        
    
News
        D.C. federal judge signals urgency as trans service members push for Trump military ban trial
    Judge Ana Reyes gave the Department of Justice one week to respond to the plaintiff's scheduling request. 
Christopher Wiggins
News
        Nonbinary student sues Michigan school district for allegedly ignoring years of reported bullying
    The Loy Norrix High School student says the school district did nothing to protect them or investigate claims they were being assaulted and harassed.
Gisselle Palomera
Transgender Health
        New York AG orders major medical center to resume gender-affirming care for youth
    NYU Langone ceased its trans health program for youth two weeks prior.
Jack Walker
Opinion
        Christian nationalism’s role in the war with Iran — and U.S. LGBTQ+ rights
    Opinion: When war is preached as a moral mission, the line between fighting extremism and reproducing it begins to disappear.
Josh Ackley

        
        More For You
        
        Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 28, 2026
The U.S. Capitol is seen on February 28, 2026, in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Israel had launched an attack on Iran on Saturday morning. 

        Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
    
        Political leaders around the country are expressing outrage over the start of armed conflict between the United States and Iran. Keep Reading →

        Puerto Vallarta felt like ‘The Purge,' American says of unrest in Mexican tourist destination
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 23, 2026
The Malecon boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco state, Mexico.

         Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
    
        Shortly after mid-morning Sunday, black smoke began rising in staggered columns across the curve of Mexico’s Bay of Banderas, a familiar postcard vista that, by nightfall, had become a horizon of surging unrest. Keep Reading →

        Hillary Clinton and Sarah McBride expose how weaponizing ‘scarcity’ drives anti-trans political attacks
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 18, 2026
Hillary Clinton moderates the panel talk "Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights: Fighting the Global Pushback" at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2026 in Munich, Germany. 

        Johannes Simon/Getty Images
    
        The first out transgender member of the U.S. Congress took the world stage in Germany last week, warning that attacks on people like her and on LGBTQ+ rights more broadly are being weaponized in the current political climate, as she joined former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on a high-profile panel at the Munich Security Conference. Keep Reading →

        Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified
    
Ryan Adamczeski
Feb 12, 2026
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media about the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Parliament Hill February 11, 2026 in Ottawa, Canada. 

        Dave Chan / AFP via Getty Images
    
        Canadian authorities have identified the shooter who killed eight people — mostly children — at a school in British Columbia on Tuesday. Keep Reading →

        LGBTQ+ people are important to global economy, corporate allies say at Davos
    
Christopher Wiggins
Jan 22, 2026
Workday showed its LGBTQ+ support at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, January 21, 2026.

        GLAAD
    
        As rainbow lights washed across corporate venues in the Swiss Alpine resort town of Davos, advocates and allies sent a message that cut through the noise of the World Economic Forum: LGBTQ+ people belong in the global economy, even — and perhaps especially — when powerful leaders try to push them out. Keep Reading →

        Most Popular
        
Elections
        Anti-LGBTQ+ Congressman Dan Crenshaw ousted by more extreme candidate in Texas GOP primary
    The Texas Republican championed a federal ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.
Christopher Wiggins
States
        Tennessee lawmakers weigh a dozen new Republican anti-LGBTQ+ bills
    Advocates warn that the proposals targeting employment protections, health care, marriage equality, and Pride displays could reshape life for LGBTQ+ Tennesseans.
Christopher Wiggins
National
        Kristi Noem struggles as Republicans & Democrats grill her in fiery Senate hearing
    "I don't know that we'll have time for you to respond because I'm giving you a performance evaluation here," Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told the DHS secretary.
Christopher Wiggins
Elections
        James Talarico defeats fellow LGBTQ+ ally Jasmine Crockett in Texas Democratic primary
    The Austin lawmaker advances to November's election as a pro-LGBTQ+ equality Democrat.
Christopher Wiggins
Crime
        Many alleged suicides of Black trans women are in fact modern-day lynchings, report finds
    Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder of JULIAN, explains what happens when a transgender woman’s death is ruled a suicide and a community calls it something else.
Christopher Wiggins
Culture
        Was John Lennon gay? Paul McCartney discussed bandmate’s sexuality rumors in unearthed interview
    The Beatles star revealed that Yoko Ono once suggested her husband was gay.
Jack Walker

Site Navigation

Killer of Gay Man Loses Appeal

The Latest

D.C. federal judge signals urgency as trans service members push for Trump military ban trial

Judge Ana Reyes gave the Department of Justice one week to respond to the plaintiff's scheduling request.

Nonbinary student sues Michigan school district for allegedly ignoring years of reported bullying

The Loy Norrix High School student says the school district did nothing to protect them or investigate claims they were being assaulted and harassed.

New York AG orders major medical center to resume gender-affirming care for youth

NYU Langone ceased its trans health program for youth two weeks prior.

Christian nationalism’s role in the war with Iran — and U.S. LGBTQ+ rights

Opinion: When war is preached as a moral mission, the line between fighting extremism and reproducing it begins to disappear.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

Retired Space Force colonel warns Trump’s Iran strikes are ‘reckless adventurism and distraction’

13 LGBTQ+ British Royals in History

John Lennon pal recalls outing Brian Epstein

Did John Lennon Have a Gay Affair

13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World

More For You

Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran

Puerto Vallarta felt like ‘The Purge,' American says of unrest in Mexican tourist destination

Hillary Clinton and Sarah McBride expose how weaponizing ‘scarcity’ drives anti-trans political attacks

Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified

LGBTQ+ people are important to global economy, corporate allies say at Davos

Most Popular

Anti-LGBTQ+ Congressman Dan Crenshaw ousted by more extreme candidate in Texas GOP primary

The Texas Republican championed a federal ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.

Tennessee lawmakers weigh a dozen new Republican anti-LGBTQ+ bills

Advocates warn that the proposals targeting employment protections, health care, marriage equality, and Pride displays could reshape life for LGBTQ+ Tennesseans.

Kristi Noem struggles as Republicans & Democrats grill her in fiery Senate hearing

"I don't know that we'll have time for you to respond because I'm giving you a performance evaluation here," Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told the DHS secretary.

James Talarico defeats fellow LGBTQ+ ally Jasmine Crockett in Texas Democratic primary

The Austin lawmaker advances to November's election as a pro-LGBTQ+ equality Democrat.

Many alleged suicides of Black trans women are in fact modern-day lynchings, report finds

Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder of JULIAN, explains what happens when a transgender woman’s death is ruled a suicide and a community calls it something else.

Was John Lennon gay? Paul McCartney discussed bandmate’s sexuality rumors in unearthed interview

The Beatles star revealed that Yoko Ono once suggested her husband was gay.

Latest Stories

Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week.

Killer of Gay Man Loses Appeal

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

Judge Ana Reyes gave the Department of Justice one week to respond to the plaintiff's scheduling request.

The Loy Norrix High School student says the school district did nothing to protect them or investigate claims they were being assaulted and harassed.

NYU Langone ceased its trans health program for youth two weeks prior.

Opinion: When war is preached as a moral mission, the line between fighting extremism and reproducing it begins to disappear.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

More For You

Most Popular

The Texas Republican championed a federal ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.

Advocates warn that the proposals targeting employment protections, health care, marriage equality, and Pride displays could reshape life for LGBTQ+ Tennesseans.

"I don't know that we'll have time for you to respond because I'm giving you a performance evaluation here," Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told the DHS secretary.

The Austin lawmaker advances to November's election as a pro-LGBTQ+ equality Democrat.

Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder of JULIAN, explains what happens when a transgender woman’s death is ruled a suicide and a community calls it something else.

The Beatles star revealed that Yoko Ono once suggested her husband was gay.