On July 6, 1999, Barry Winchell, a 21-year-old infantry soldier in the United States Army, was murdered while he slept outside of his barracks by fellow soldier Calvin Glover for dating a transgender woman, Calpernia Addams, after a physical altercation between the two.

A native of Missouri, Winchell enlisted in the Army in 1997 and was transferred in 1998 to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

After Glover dropped out of school in 8th grade, his parents enrolled him in a youth counseling program.

[7] Winchell died of massive head injuries on July 6 at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

During the trial, his defense claimed Fisher had goaded him into committing the murder and that it wasn't intentional.

Arguing for a chance of parole, Glover's defense team pointed to his difficult upbringing, young age, and claimed that Fisher had used him as a pawn.

Glover said he was drunk at the time of the murder and was recovering from alcoholism, and that he didn't know why he attacked Winchell.

Glover's attorneys continued to argue that Fisher had goaded him into attacking Winchell.

Winchell's parents testified during the hearing, describing him as a loving, compassionate man who enjoyed the Army and wanted to become a helicopter pilot.

Winchell's parents, Wally and Patricia Kutteles said "Suddenly, the Army let him plead to nothing related to the actual murder ... justice was not served today."

[11] In addition to their sentences, Glover and Fisher were also both dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank to private, and ordered to forfeit all of their pay and benefits.

[14] Winchell's murder led Secretary of Defense William Cohen to order a review of the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, which some asserted was a significant factor in Winchell's harassment and murder.

[15][16][17] The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network was a prominent critic of how the policy was implemented, and they demanded to know who, in higher ranks, was responsible for the climate on base.

Lieutenant General Timothy Maude, a point man on LGBTQ issues for the U.S. Army, visited with Patricia Kutteles.

[19] Despite campaigning by the Kutteleses and LGBT activist groups, the Commanding General of Fort Campbell at the time of the murder, Major General Robert T. Clark, refused to take responsibility for the purported anti-gay climate at Fort Campbell under his command.

[20] In May 2003, he met with Patricia Kutteles, who opposed his promotion, saying: "He doesn't have the command authority or responsibility.

Troy Garity portrays Winchell with Lee Pace playing Calpernia Addams.

The film received a Peabody Award and numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and sparked the renewed debate of the effects of DADT during Clark's promotion hearings.