Talana Kreeger
Talana Kreeger
September 25, 1957—February 22, 1990
Wilmington, NC
“In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast.
Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis.“
~ Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant
Law enforcement told leaders of the Wilmington, NC LGBT community that it would not be in their interest to be too visible in the days following the murder of Talana Quay Kreeger by manual disembowelment. Fearing reprisals, a quiet funeral was planned for Talana at a church in nearby Ogden. Forbidden to post signs directing mourners to the church, organizers tied bunches of white balloons along the route up Market Street, leading out of town.
At the last minute, the service was called off in Ogden. Somebody had gotten to the pastor, and explained that Talana was a lesbian. Wilmington Police stopped the procession of cars, and told them to turn around. Scrambling to find any place for the better than 200 grief-stricken, frustrated mourners, someone contacted a sympathetic Episcopal priest in downtown Wilmington who opened his church for the memorial service.
Talana, 32, was well known and well regarded in the closely-knit lesbian and gay community. She was a skilled journeyman carpenter, and had volunteered her time to remodel the Park View Bar and Grill, a haven for coastal Carolina lesbians. Her murder by long haul trucker, Ronald Thomas, terrorized and enraged the entire LGBT population of New Hanover County. Talana’s gruesome death caused Eastern North Carolina queer folk to find their voices. They vowed never again to have to rely on straight people to lend them a church for the funeral of one of their own.
The result of that vow is St. Jude’s Metropolitan Community Church, www.stjudesmcc.org , a thriving congregation founded the year after Talana’s murder as a testimony to LGBT faith and resolve. Independent filmmaker, Tab Ballis, is documenting the story of Talana Kreeger with the film, “Park View,” www.parkviewproject.com. Few other LGBT hate crimes murder victims, if any, have not only a film dedicated to their memory, but also have a church that exists today as a living reminder that hatred does not have the last word. Rest well, sister. Time was on your side after all. You did not die in vain. We will not forget.
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If you are a first-time visitor to the Unfinished Lives Project website, we invite you to read A Welcome Message introducing you to our project. We are truly grateful for your visit.
The Unfinished Lives Project website is a place of public discourse which remembers and honors LGBTQ hate crime victims, while also revealing the reality of unseen violence perpetrated against people whose only “offense” is their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. LGBTQ people in the United States are suffering a slow-rolling decimation of terror and murder all across the country. Every locale and demographic of society are affected: First Nations, Anglo, Black, Latino and Latina, South and Southeast Asian, Transgender, Bisexuals, Gay men, Lesbians, disabled, young, and mature. Homophobia has a long, crooked arm, and it is reaching out to snatch the life away from women and men whose tragic stories are under-reported to begin with, and whose memories are swiftly forgotten.
The horror of these killings transcends the shock and bereavement of loved ones and friends. These are not typical homicides; they are not killings for money or drugs, incidents of domestic strife, or crimes of passion. The vicious nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is extremely brutal, grotesquely violent, and egregiously hateful.
Each murder serves the LGBTQ population as a sobering warning about the actual level of danger in our communities. The message these killings send is that freedom and open life for LGBTQ people is a cruel dream. Every time we remember one of these victims, however, the intentions of their killers are frustrated. To remember these women and men is to begin the process of changing the culture that killed them.
Our Project Director
Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle (Keith Tew photo).
Stephen V. Sprinkle is Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry, and Professor of Practical Theology at Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas, a post he has held since 1994. An ordained Baptist minister, he is the first open and out Gay scholar in the history of the Divinity School, and the first open and out LGBTQ person to be tenured there. Read More…
Recent Social Justice Advocacy Activity By Dr. Sprinkle
Summer 2009 – Dr. Sprinkle responded to the Fort Worth Police Department and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, Fort Worth’s newest gay bar, on June 28, 2009, the exact 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Dr. Sprinkle was invited to speak at three protest events sponsored by Queer LiberAction of Dallas. Here, he is keynoting the Rainbow Lounge Protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse on July 12, 2009. Read More…
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Dr. Sprinkle has given his Unfinished Lives presentation to these and other community groups and organizations. Read More…
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Steve Sprinkle
Unfinished Lives: Remembering LGBT Hate Crime VictimsBrite Divinity School/Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth TXprofessor, minister, author, blogger, LGBTQ advocate
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Unfinished Lives 
Thanks to Stephen Sprinkle’s tireless efforts, the legacy of Talana Kreeger and many others, as martyrs of the senselesness of homophobic hate crimes, will not be forgotten, in our time.
Thanks to you, as well, Tab. Talana’s memory is still evergreen thanks to your dedication and filmmaking excellence.
[…] Wilmington, the largest city on the Carolina coast, is no stranger to anti-LGBT murder. Lesbian Talana Quay Kreeger, 32, was manually disemboweled by a trucker in 1990. Tab Ballis, a local documentary filmmaker, […]
I knew a Talana Kreeger in Jacksonvile, NC back in 1975-1976 but am not sure if she was the one I knew, She had a bithmark on her face and very bad teeth. I’ve often thought about her and by a whim typed her name and found out she was on the internet. I think her father was in the Marine Corps. If anyone happens to read this I would be grateful to know if this might be her. This is more than sad. i
Dear Tom,
This could very well have been Talana. She had dental difficulties. If she was a blonde, the chances are greater that it was indeed she. I have a chapter on her murder in my book, Unfinished Lives. Thanks for contacting us.
Steve