HOUSTON (AP) — A man serving a 45-year sentence for the 1991 slaying of a gay man is getting help in his parole bid from an unlikely source — the person who helped send him to prison.

Ray Hill, one of Houston’s most outspoken gay activists, is working to have Jon Buice released, believing the 29-year-old man has become a different person from the 17-year-old who stabbed to death Paul Broussard in the early morning hours of July 4, 1991.

Hill has counseled Buice while he’s been in prison, encouraging him to get college degrees and face up to his crime.

“I don’t see any conflict at all,” Hill told the Houston Chronicle. “From my position, what’s most important is the safety of the people in the gay community. They (Buice and nine co-defendants) constituted a threat to that community. Time passes. Here it is 2003, and I think some of the guys, at least Jon, are ready to make social contributions and could well be an asset to the gay and lesbian community.”

Broussard, a 27-year-old bank employee, and two friends were walking to their cars after leaving a gay nightclub when they were attacked.

Buice (pronounced “Bice”) was among 10 students at what was then Conroe McCullough High School who drove into Houston looking for gays to harass. After spotting Broussard and his friends, the 10 began beating and kicking the three.

While his two friends escaped with minor injuries, Broussard suffered a broken rib, crushed testicles and two stab wounds in the chest and stomach, which officials said was the cause of death. Buice was the one who used a knife in the attack.

He accepted a deal from prosecutors for a 45-year prison term. Of the 10 defendants, five initially got prison time, with two others going to jail after violating their probation.

While Hill assisted police in getting tips that helped lead to the attackers, he said he never wanted Buice to receive such a stiff sentence.

“Certainly, the knife is an important factor here,” Hill acknowledged. “But 45 years horrified me. We’re talking about a 17-year-old kid here.”

After Buice was sent to prison, Hill used his radio program, “The Prison Show,” to ask to meet with him.

“He asked me why I was involved in Paul’s murder. He conveyed understanding. He made me want dialogue,” Buice said of their first meeting.

Buice began to listen to the radio program, and to Hill, who served time in prison for burglary and is also active in prisoner rights. During his program in April 1999, Hill read an apologetic letter written by Buice in which he apologized to the victim’s family and the gay community.

“I’ve changed, but I can’t change what I did,” said Buice, who blamed his behavior as a teen in part on drugs and alcohol. “I do believe there are people who need to be given another chance. And I believe I can help other inmates the way Ray helped me.”

The friendship between the two men is so strong that Hill, 62, recently named Buice to succeed him as host of his radio show.

But Hill has been called a traitor for supporting the parole bid and been publicly criticized by Broussard’s mother, Nancy Rodriguez.

“Why give somebody a sentence if they’re not going to serve it?” Rodriguez asked recently, after Buice was notified that the state parole board would be considering the case. “There’s nothing he could say that would make any difference, and it’s too late anyway.”