The son of a prominent political activist was killed Wednesday morning in a two-vehicle crash in Gwinnett County.
Jamiel Terry, 31, died when he crossed the center line on Dickens Road driving a Plymouth Breeze and struck a Nissan Rogue head-on, according to the incident report obtained by the AJC. Three people in the Nissan were evaluated for minor injuries, police said.
Terry was the adopted son of Randall Terry, the Operation Rescue founder and a longtime opponent of homosexual marriage. In 1987, Randall Terry and then-wife Cindy agreed to take in Jamiel, then 8, and his two sisters as foster children. Jamiel Terry was formally adopted in 1994.
Jamiel Terry made national headlines in 2004 when he announced he was gay and wrote an essay for "Out" magazine. His father published his own essay on his website, titled "My Prodigal Son, the Homosexual."
"We were taught that if you saw pain in the world, you should speak out, " Jamiel Terry told the Washington Post. "I knew that because of my name I could get published and help young men and women who are gay and struggling because of their religious upbringing."
The rift between Jamiel and Randall Terry played out in the national media, but the two remained in contact recently, Randall Terry said in a statement released Friday.
"I thank God that Jamiel and I spoke regularly, and texted each other about a wide variety of issues, frequently discussing and debating elections, politics and policy, to which we have both dedicated our time and talents," Randall Terry said. "While we remained irreconcilable on the issue of ‘homosexual marriage,' and the morality of homosexual behavior, Jamiel remained firmly pro-life, and recently helped convince a young woman to not kill her child by abortion. There were many other issues that we kicked around -- with laughter and good humor."
Visitation is planned Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Tom Wages Funeral Home in Lawrenceville. A funeral mass will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, also in Lawrenceville.
Terry's body will be flown to Rochester, N.Y., for burial. A service will be held next week in Rochester before the burial on Wednesday.
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