The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
Equality Across America (EAA) extends our deepest condolences to the families of Jorge Steven López Mercado and Jason "Jaysen" Mattison, Jr.
Jorge was an openly gay Puerto Rican man who was brutally slain last week in what appears to have been a hate crime against him for his gender expression.
In Baltimore, Jason "Jaysen" Mattison, Jr., a Black high school sophomore, was raped and beaten to death on November 10. It is in sadness and solidarity that we gather across the nation in memory of Jorge Steven López Mercado and Jason "Jaysen" Mattison, Jr.
The vigils listed below will be publicized as tangible evidence of our support for the Puerto Rican and Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) communities as well as all other victims of hate crimes and their families.
EAA member Sherry Wolf explains,
"So long as the federal government maintains discriminatory laws against LGBTQI people, unimaginable acts of brutality like these are more likely to occur."
Equality Across America fully denounces inequality of any kind based on class, race, religion, age or community including but not limited to individuals that identify as LGBTQI. It is our mission to secure equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. We will accept no less and will work until it is achieved.
In conjunction with our commitment to equality, we call on officials to ensure that all applicable hate crime provisions be applied to these cases. At present, there is evidence that Jorge may have been targeted based on his gender expression and Jason for his sexual orientation. We are outraged by the televised public statement by a Puerto Rican police investigator who stated "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen."
Below is a partial list of solidarity vigils taking place in cities across the United States that EAA member groups have either initiated or are participating in:
• New York City: Sunday, Nov. 22, 7pm, Christopher St. piers
• LA: Sunday, Nov. 22, 8pm, Santa Monica and San Vicente, West Hollywood
· Chicago: Sunday, Nov. 22, 4pm, Division and California, Humboldt Park (contact: Nik Maciejewski, nmaciejewski@gmail.com, 630-205-5025)
· Gainesville, FL: Friday, Nov. 20, 7:30pm, Plaza of the Americas, U of F (contact: Rev. Donna Lee, 352-484-7135, activistlee@aol.com)
(My laptop situation is currently 'up-in-the-air'; my apologies for any errors or incomplete listings. Please add any other vigils you know of in "comments"- thanks! ~Louise~)
PLEASE NOTE- THE ONE IN PHILLY IS TONIGHT- all others at this time are on Sunday.
========================================
PHILADELPHIA When: Friday, November 20th
Time: 6:30 - 7 p.m.
Where: Church of St. Luke & The Epiphany
330 South 13th St., Philadelphia
Speakers: Cynthia Vasquez, Youth Activist, GALAEI
Gloria Casarez, LGBT Liaison to the Mayor
Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum
Music: Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus
For more information: Call Chip Alfred, Communications Director, Equality Forum, 215-732-3378 x 116, or email chip@equalityforum.com.
=========================================
IN MEMORIAM - Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado & Jason Mattison Jr. (LA)
LOS ANGELES Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Time: 8:00pm - 9:30pm
Location: Corner of Santa Monica and San Vicente in West Hollywood
============================================
BOSTON Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: In front of Trinity Church, Copley Plaza, Boston
======================================
NEW YORK CITY Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Time: 5:00pm - 8:30pm
Location: CHRISTOPHER ST PIERS 45
Street: Christopher Street & West Side Highway
New York, NY
LOCATION: HUDSON ST PIER 45 AT CHRISTOPHER ST - 5PM WITH OPTIONAL MOMENT OF SILENCE AND MASS AFTERWARD
BRING: CANDLES FOR YOU AND OTHERS
***IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN NYC AND WANT TO DO YOUR PART, SEE END OF MESSAGE***
Chicago, IL - A candlelight vigil is being planned in Humboldt Park this Sunday, Nov. 22, from 4-6 p.m. in memory of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, a gay teenager who was murdered, decapitated and burned in Cayey, Puerto Rico.
The vigil is planned to begin at California & Division.
====================================
DALLAS
Date: November 22
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Corner of Cedar Springs and Throckmorton (heart of the Gayborhood).
===============================================
From Facebook.
Please, PLEASE invite all of your friends to a vigil honoring Mercado as well as anyone else who has been murdered, beaten, and otherwise terrorized for their sexuality or gender identity, either real or perceived.
The LGBT population in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican LGBT community here in the United States need to know we support them.
WE MUST FUNNEL OUR SADNESS INTO AN OUTPOURING OF RIGHTEOUS OUTRAGE.
We must show the government, the media, and the oppressors that to systemically target one group for its appearance or mannerisms--and then subject them to violence explicitly for those criteria--is INTOLERABLE.
We also must demand that the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, recently signed into law by President Obama, is used effectively to bring Jorge's killer to justice.
The murder of a gay teenager in Baltimore has left a family grieving and a community questioning why he was killed. The suspect is a family friend and ex-con who had served only 10 years of an original 30-year sentence for an earlier crime.
Dante Parrish, 35, has been charged with first-degree murder, The Baltimore Sun reports. Parrish was sentenced to 30 years in connection with a 1999 killing but was released after the nonprofit legal group the Innocence Project "found that Parrish had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder based on a faulty statement of facts read into the court record," according to the Sun. A judge overturned Parrish's conviction.
An overflow crowd spilled out of the sanctuary and into the vestibule of a West Baltimore church Wednesday morning for the funeral of Jason Mattison Jr., a 15-year-old killed last week in a brutal attack.
The principal at Jason's school announced a scholarship fund set up in his name. Friends and family recalled stories involving the rambunctious teenager, who had dreams of becoming a pediatrician. And the reverend of the church told hundreds of mourners that the boy's death should serve as a warning to the downtrodden neighborhood where it happened to closely watch all kids.
Several students from Jason's school, Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, attended the 90-minute service held at Unity United Methodist Church on Edmondson Avenue, some of the teens becoming so overcome with emotion that they stepped outside.
Update: For those who believe I jumped too far in my conclusion that the victim was trans, I added a comment to the thread here.
~~Autumn~~
Update 2: Mike Lavers has an update on how Jorge identitied here:
This is Mike Lavers from EDGE Publications. I have covered Jorge's death extensively for the Web site, and I'd like to offer some additional information. My source in Puerto Rico, who remains in constant contact with Jorge's friends and family, definitely confirms Jorge identified as a gay man--and not transgender as some folks continue to argue. His perceived or actual (and I deliberately speak in the subjunctive here) gender identity or expression certainly continues to garner a lot of attention and/or speculation, but from what I know at this point from sources in Puerto Rico I will not conclude Jorge identified as transgender. As someone who has covered trans and trans-related issues for a number of years, I certainly understand and appreciate those folks who continue to point out Jorge was trans, but the way Jorge reportedly identified himself leads me to believe he was gay--and not trans (at least from where I sit.) I am more than happy to talk further about this, so don't hesitate to contact me directly at mklavers@gmail.com.
~~Autumn~~
When the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) mainstream media (MSM) can't get trans related stories right, I have to wonder what the hell is wrong with LGB reporters who the lack of competency regarding trans people and issues. Trans people are part of the LGBT community; it's not that incredibly hard to develop professional relationships with transgender people; not that hard to familiarize oneself with the Associated Press Styleguide, GLAAD Media Guide's Transgender Glossary, and the old NLGJA Styleguide Supplement.
This is what the Associated Press Styleguide states under the term transgender:
Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.
If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.
So how should a LGBT media organization report on the murder of a street sex worker who had male genitalia, who presented as female? Not as 365Gay did in their piece they egregiously titled Murder suspect thought Puerto Rico gay teen was a woman:
The Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevodia reports that the suspect in the killing of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado is Juan antonio Martinez Matos, 26 years old and father of four. (This is a translation from a colleague; the link is www.elnuevodia.com/confiesaasesinatodejovenhomosexual-638687.html and we'd appreciate corrections!)
Martinez Matos was "looking for women" in a red light district last Friday. He had already been turned down several times, but Lopez Mercado, wearing a blue dress and boots, agreed to get in his car.
District Attorney Jose J. Bermudez says that in his confession, Martinez Matos said that he thought Lopez Mercado was a woman. The victim asked him for money and when he refused, Lopez Mercado pulled out a knife. When Martinez Matos realized that the teenager was actually male, he had a flashback to when he was raped in prison while he was serving a sentence for domestic violence. He then attacked Lopez Mercado, separating his arms from his torso...
Given the facts of this story as we know them, this is not the story of a gay teen that was killed. This is the story of a trans teen who was allegedly brutally murdered -- where the confessed killer is claiming a trans panic/gay panic defense for his actions. In death, the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals lived publicly is she and her, not the implied he and him found in describing the murder victim as a gay.
MULTI MILLION DOLLAR BOND SET FOR KILLER OF THE YOUNG HOMOSEXUAL VICTIM
Judge Madeline Vega of the Courts in Guayama, found cause for the arrest of Juan Martinez Matos for charges related to the killing of a young homosexual Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, and his bond was set for 4 million dollars. (NO BONDSMAN IN PR OFFERS THAT AMOUNT)
The public prosecutor Yaritza Carrasquillo presented three charges under Article 505 violation of weapons charge, and a charge under Article 106 of the murder in first degree, for the cruel murder of a young 19 year old in Cidra, Puerto Rico.
The next court hearing for Martinez Matos was set for December 7 in the Courts of Caguas.
While the killer was being transported he was passed by Jorge's father and he stoped and asked for his forgiveness, and his father said "I already forgave you; you should ask God to forgive you".
As the killer was being transported out of the court he was departing from his family, during all that he was crying, and was then transported to las Cucharas Jail in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
"Thank God that justice has been served" the victim's father said to the agent in charge of the matter. Angel Rodriguez has done a fast and efficient job in this case.
Martinez Matos confessed to the horrific urder of Jorge Steven who he decapitated, desmember, burned and finally threw his body into the area of Guevate in Cayey.
Below the fold, more details of Matos' confession via 365gay.com, including that Matos thought Lopez Mercado was a woman.
Please, PLEASE invite all of your friends to a vigil honoring Mercado as well as anyone else who has been murdered, beaten, and otherwise terrorized for their sexuality or gender identity, either real or perceived.
The LGBT population in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican LGBT community here in the United States need to know we support them.
WE MUST FUNNEL OUR SADNESS INTO AN OUTPOURING OF RIGHTEOUS OUTRAGE.
We must show the government, the media, and the oppressors that to systemically target one group for its appearance or mannerisms--and then subject them to violence explicitly for those criteria--is INTOLERABLE.
We also must demand that the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, recently signed into law by President Obama, is used effectively to bring Jorge's killer to justice.
========================================
PHILADELPHIA When: Friday, November 20th
Time: 6:30 - 7 p.m.
Where: Church of St. Luke & The Epiphany
330 South 13th St., Philadelphia
Speakers: Cynthia Vasquez, Youth Activist, GALAEI
Gloria Casarez, LGBT Liaison to the Mayor
Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum
Music: Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus
For more information: Call Chip Alfred, Communications Director, Equality Forum, 215-732-3378 x 116, or email chip@equalityforum.com.
=========================================
IN MEMORIAM - Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado & Jason Mattison Jr. (LA)
LOS ANGELES Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Time: 8:00pm - 9:30pm
Location: Corner of Santa Monica and San Vicente in West Hollywood
============================================
BOSTON Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: In front of Trinity Church, Copley Plaza, Boston
======================================
NEW YORK CITY Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Time: 5:00pm - 8:30pm
Location: CHRISTOPHER ST PIERS 45
Street: Christopher Street & West Side Highway
New York, NY
LOCATION: HUDSON ST PIER 45 AT CHRISTOPHER ST - 5PM WITH OPTIONAL MOMENT OF SILENCE AND MASS AFTERWARD
BRING: CANDLES FOR YOU AND OTHERS
***IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN NYC AND WANT TO DO YOUR PART, SEE END OF MESSAGE***
Chicago, IL - A candlelight vigil is being planned in Humboldt Park this Sunday, Nov. 22, from 4-6 p.m. in memory of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, a gay teenager who was murdered, decapitated and burned in Cayey, Puerto Rico.
The vigil is planned to begin at California & Division.
====================================
DALLAS
Date: November 22
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Corner of Cedar Springs and Throckmorton (heart of the Gayborhood).
State Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, said the newly passed Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends hate crimes law protections to include actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, oversteps the bounds of the federal government and hinders free speech and religious freedom.
"The federal government should not be creating a special class of people, and that is just what they did when they passed and signed this bill," Russell said. "All crimes against another person have some level of hate in them, and people can be assured that our laws that protect people against crimes such as murder are sufficient to protect everyone."
Russell said because the government has decided to intervene on issues of morality, he is worried that religious leaders who speak out against any lifestyle could be imprisoned for their speech. "The law is very vague to begin with," Russell said. "Sexual orientation is a very vague word that could be extended to extremes like necrophilia."
...When asked about whether the state of Oklahoma should reject the $5 million in federal funds that the federal government would give to law enforcement agencies to help prosecute hate crimes, Russell said he thought about finding a way to pass his law while taking the money, but said it would be a compromise in the values of his bill.
The main suspect of the cruel murder of a young homosexual man was arrested last night and could be taken to a judge early today to be pressed for charges.
The killer is a 26 year old unemployed man who is being accompanied by his father in the prosecution process.
It was indicated that the suspect did not resist arrest at 11:30 PM last night, in the sector of Mogote in Cayey. At 7:00 AM the suspect was already in a prison cell in the Police Station of Guayma.
Meanwhile the Insitute of Forensics decided to inspect the suspects home septic tank. In the suspects backyard a wig was found, a burned mattress, a PVC water pipe that was burned, a knife, and blood stains on the wall.
Neighbors of the suspect observed from a distance but did not comment, his father though accompanied his son accused of the murder.
The LGBT COMMUNITY has also requested that we judge the killer and not the victim. Under any circumstances of how this may have started. A young man was murdered, burned, and dismembered and left for dead.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution comes a story that a high school teacher has been charged with physically threatening and "putting a hit out" on a student, after learning that the 16 year old boy is gay.
Clayton County schools are investigating charges a teacher threatened a student after questioning the teen's sexuality.
Randolph Forde, a teacher at Mundy's Mill High School, remains on administrative leave with pay, schools spokesman Charles White said Monday.
Jail records show Forde was arrested last month on charges of terrorist threats and released on a $10,000 bond.
According to the student's attorney, Forde pulled the 16-year-old student out of class and asked him if he was gay.
"A child's sexuality is never a teacher's business," said Marcia Killebrew, the student's mother. "I feel like the man was being extremely inappropriate."
The next day, the teacher got into a verbal altercation in an algebra class, said (the student's attorney Terrence) Madden.
"The teacher threatened to hit him in his 'f-ing mouth,'" Madden said.
A few days later, Forde asked another student to "put a hit" on the teenager, according to a police report.
"The suspect advised to the witness that he would pay him to kill the victim," the report states.
The teacher wrote the victim's name on a note and showed it to another student on the school bus, the report says.
"I have no idea why teacher would want to hurt my son," Killebrew said. "But all it came after the teachers asked my son if he was gay. For the teacher to ask that, he had to have a motive. That's not a random question."
Forde told police he "had no interaction with the witness or the victim, and he never made a statement regarding the victim," according to the report.
Killebrew, the targeted student's mother, contacted Clayton County police, who presented the allegations to a magistrate judge. A judge issued an arrest warrant on Oct. 13, according to court records.
According to the article, the teacher will not face a hearing regarding his employment until at least after Thanksgiving- an earlier scheduled hearing was postponed.
1:30pm- Many thanks to Blender SA for a secondary translation...
From Back2Stonewall comes news of an arrest made in the horrific murder of 19 year old Jroge Steven Lopez Mercado- translated from Primerahora.com.
A man was arrested in the early morning hours today in Cayey suspect in the murder of George Steven Lopez Mercado, the 19-year-old was brutally decapitated, dismembered and partially burned in an apparent hate crime for homophobia.
The Agent Headquarters Pereira confirmed that a subject was arrested and seized two vehicles for research.
He informed he would be transferred to CIC Guayama morning today for questioning.
Sources of First Time reported yesterday that a 28 year old male was suspected of murdering Steven Lopez Jorge Mercado.
The information is provided by sources close to the murdered teenager.
The spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Puerto Rico, Harry Rodriguez said yesterday that the federal agency would monitor the investigation of the crime.
"The FBI is monitoring this investigation with the Police of Puerto Rico because there are federal statutes under the laws of civil rights violations covered by hate crimes," Rodriguez said early in reference to the newly adopted Law for Preventing Hate Crimes signed in October that President Barack Obama.
The adoption of this statute provides federal resources to state and local agencies with the necessary tools to prosecute hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, gender, national origin and disability.
Rodriguez added that at the request of the Police of Puerto Rico, the FBI may also provide assistance for any evidence of expertise to be carried out concerning the case.
"The FBI is in the greater willingness to provide any assistance or resources in this research as a technical examination by the FBI laboratory, among other things, if requested by the police," he said.
Some of the forensic procedures carried out at the FBI laboratories include DNA tests and hair and fiber tests.
In addition, the Director of Criminal Investigation Corps of Guayama, Eliezer Colon, said the inquiry was at the investigation.
"We're just interviewing people and gathering evidence," the commander said yesterday about the inquiry conducted by a team of "best researchers", including the officer Angel Rodriguez, who has fallen against many criticisms for making homophobic comments to a news television.
"These people when they get to this and are on the street know that this can happen," were the words that the investigating officer did to Las Noticias Univision.
Among those who expressed their discomfort at the comments highlighted the lawyer Vance Thomas, Executive Director of the Civil Rights Commission, who urged the Police Superintendent Jose Figueroa Sancha, to make administrative charges against the officer.
"In addition to out of the research (Rodriguez Colon), you must file administrative charges. I know of no context in which they can justify that a person sought to be killed," said Thomas. He said he will ask the attorney general, Antonio Sagardía, to reactivate a committee that was established in 2008 to prosecute hate crimes.
Meanwhile, the police superintendent dismissed the case saying that he heard the officer but for any reason any of his officers "can make homophobic expressions.
Meanwhile, police regional director of Guayama, Hector Agosto, said Rodriguez's words were misrepresented and that the intent of this "was not at any time disparage the gay and lesbian class.
"In fact they are giving 100% to solving the case," he said.
Second updated translation of original piece:
A man was arrested in the early morning hours today in Cayey, suspected in the murder of George Steven Lopez Mercado, the 19-year-old who was brutally decapitated, dismembered and partially burned in an apparent homophobic hate crime.
Agent Pereira of Police Headquarters confirmed that a subject was arrested at a residence in the Los Huertas portion of the Beatriz Barrio and that two vehicles were seized for investigation.
He indicated that the suspect would be transferred to CIC Guayama this morning for questioning.
Sources of Primerahora reported yesterday that a 28 year old male was suspected of murdering Steven Lopez Jorge Mercado.
The information came to light through extensive interviews with sources in Caguas close to the murdered teenager. Evidently the case has to do with a man who offered money to have sexual relations with López Mercado.
The spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Puerto Rico, Harry Rodríguez, said yesterday that the federal agency would monitor the investigation of the crime.
"The FBI is monitoring this investigation with the Police of Puerto Rico because there are federal civil rights statutes that cover hate crimes," Rodríguez told Primerahora in reference to the newly adopted Law for Preventing Hate Crimes that President Obama signed in October.
The adoption of this statute provides federal resources to state and local agencies so they have the necessary tools to prosecute hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, gender, national origin and disability.
Rodríguez added that at the request of the Police of Puerto Rico, the FBI would also furnish any forensic expertise required in connection with the case.
"The FBI has the utmost willingness to provide any assistance or resources in this investigation, such as forensic analysis by the FBI laboratory, among other things, if requested by the police," he said.
Some of the forensic procedures carried out at the FBI laboratories include DNA tests and hair and fiber tests.
In addition, the Director of Criminal Investigation Corps of Guayama, Eliezer Colón, said the inquiry was in the investigative phase.
"We're just now interviewing people and gathering evidence," the commander said yesterday about the inquiry conducted by a team of "our best detectives", including the officer Ángel Rodríguez, against whom were lodged many criticisms for making homophobic comments to a television outlet.
"This kind of people, when they get involved in this and go out on the street, know that this can happen to them," were the words that the investigating officer spoke to Univisión news.
Chief among those who expressed their discomfort at those comments was the lawyer Vance Thomas, Executive Director of the Civil Rights Commission, who urged the Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha, to bring administrative charges against the officer.
"In addition to removing him (Rodríguez Colón) from the case, you must file administrative charges. I know of no context in which one can justify saying that a person asked to be killed," said Thomas.
He said he will ask the attorney general, Antonio Sagardía, to reactivate a committee that was established in 2008 to prosecute hate crimes.
The Police Superintendent, for his part, waved off this complaint, saying that he didn't hear the officer's words but that "none of his agents are allowed to make homophobic statements."
Meanwhile, the Director of Police of the Guayama region, Héctor Agosto, said that the statement by Rodríguez had been distorted and that the officer had no intention at any time of disrespecting gay or lesbian groups.
"In fact they are 100% committed to solving the case," he said.
Yesterday the activist Pedro Julio Serrano mentioned that a few weeks ago he also alerted the authorities to another possible hate crime in Condado, in which a young gay man died from knife wounds in circumstances that have yet to be clarified by the police.
"I hope that these two cases are isolated and not connected to each other," he said, recalling the 27 consecutive murders of homosexuals committed during the 1980s by Ángel Colón Maldonado, the "Angel of the Bachelors", who is presently serving a life prison term.
Below the fold, remarks from CNN iPhone reporter Christopher Pagan and The Task Force's Pedro Serrano on the news of the arrest, both of whom sent emails to the Blend this morning.
Just a quick message to ask folks to consider contacting the Department of Justice regarding a possible anti-gay hate crime in Puerto Rico. An openly gay 19 year old boy was found murdered last Friday in Puerto Rico. He was decapitated, dismembered, and burned. The local police investigator assigned to the case said to Univisión about the victim: "Someone like that, who does those kind of things, and goes out in public, knows full well that this might happen to him."
Clearly there's not going to be a fair and impartial local investigation as to whether or not this is a hate crime. Please join us in asking Attorney General Eric Holder to have the use its new Hate Crimes law to investigate whether this horrible murder was motivated by anti-gay animus. We've set up an online action center where you can email the Attorney General.
This is a perfect chance for the Obama administration to show that it cares about gay and lesbian Americans.
On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso.
The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen".
The boy's name was George/Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado and he was 19 years old, according to the CNN iReport.
According to an iReport by Christopher Pagan, "He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved."
Pagan said, "Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama's new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico."
Pagan also noted the public remarks from a police investigator for the case that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'.
"It is inconceivable that the investigating officer suggests that the victim deserved his fate, like a woman deserves rape for wearing a short skirt. We demand condemnation of this investigator and demand that Superintendent Figueroa Sancha replace him with someone capable of investigating this case without prejudice."
I just met Pedro Serrano and Rea Carey, a few weeks ago in Portland...
I'm looking into finding out anything more about this terrible murder, as well as how the new federal hate crimes law works in Puerto Rico.
This hurts- nineteen years old. Just a kid, a few years older than my own. The same age I was when Charlie Howard was murdered, 25 years ago...
If anyone has information to add, links, etc to this story, please do- and spread the word to help bring his killer(s) to justice.
Triangle Journal News in Memphis and, since April 2006, she has been a regular panelist on Out & About Today on News Channel 5 in Nashville. Previously, she was a columnist for Out & About Nashville from August 2004 to December 2005 and the author of Casa Marisa, a monthly column in Transgender Community News from July 1999 to August 2004.
Prof. Richmond is another member of the trans community who I've asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
~~Autumn~~
By Marisa Richmond, Ph.D.
The recent adoption of hate crimes legislation by the United States Government is a major step forward for the transgender community. this is the first time any positive legislation for LGBT people has ever been adopted, and for it to be fully inclusive makes this extra special.
For years, transgender activists fought to be included in this legislation because of the ongoing level of violence against transgender people across the nation. For many of us, the darkest hour came in 2005 when nearly 40 national groups singed a joint letter to members of the U.S. Senate urging them to adopt the fully inclusive bill which had passed the House, while another group, after pledging they would fight "only" for fully inclusive legislation, both refused to sign that letter and issued its own urging Senators to ignore the House action and adopt a separate bill that left transgender people. The argument that this "strategy" was necessary to pass such a bill was bigoted and, simply, poor politics.
Transgender Day of Remembrance, we can remember all that we lost in the knowledge that future victims of gender based violence will have those crimes aggressively investigated and prosecuted.
We should not forget, however, that the battle to end violence against transgender people has not been totally won. We still have to end discrimination in the workplace. Many communities still do not have any protections and must rely on the Federal government to take action to ensure they have a level playing field.
There is also the problem of what to do for those who live in states where there is a lack of interest in pursuing even an investigation of violence against transgender people. My home state of Tennessee is one such place. Our largest city, Memphis, home of the Blues, Barbeque, and Elvis, has become identified as the most dangerous city in the country for transgender people. I am regularly asked by other trans people if it is safe for them to visit Memphis.
The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) has a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly, SB0253 by Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis)/HB0335, by Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis), which would add "gender identity or expression" to Tennessee's Hate Crimes statute. Currently, Tennessee is one of 38 states which does not provide protection for transgender residents. The rash of hate crimes against transgender persons, especially against African American transgender women in Memphis, make passage of this bill even more important here. Having an additional tool available to victims will make life safer for everyone and send a message that the lives of transgender people in Tennessee have value too.
We encourage everyone in the other 37 states that do not have hate crimes laws covering all LGBT people to continue the work to raise awareness of violence against all of us and to push to make sure your state laws match the federal one so that victims can pursue justice on every available front.
Thanks again to everyone across this great nation who worked hard to make sure that transgender people were not left behind and to see that the lives of transgender people are now recognized as having value.
This is a guest post by Vanessa Edwards Foster. Vanessa Edwards Foster, a longtime activist, is co-founder and current President of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), a grassroots coalition of transgender Americans who are politically active and lobby locally, statewide and at the national level.
Vanessa was also the first trans individual ever elected President of a chapter of a National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) for Harris County in her home, Houston TX. Vanessa is a half-white/half-native transgender woman; she was an Obama delegate in 2008--returning to the Democratic National Convention as a delegate for a second time.
Vanessa is another member of the trans community who I've asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
~~Autumn~~
by Vanessa Edwards Foster
It's been a long time coming. The historic passage of hate crimes legislation and signature into law by the President signals the very first federal law covering trans people in America. My emotions, though, are mixed: ebullience, wistfulness, solemnity, sadness
To have this finally pass, and to have it inclusive of trans people, is a major victory. Since 1997, I've been consistently taking time, shelling out money and visiting offices all over Washington DC and Austin - and even once in Annapolis this year - in attempt to get even this, the most elemental protection, passed with coverage for us all. With this official passage last week, all the memories of where we've all collectively been working to achieve what's finally reality - seemingly against all odds - come streaming in.
In 1999 I had the opportunity to pull in the most critical component of what would eventually be the key to eventual passage of the James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill in Texas two years later. Taking two of my gay friends on their very first lobbying visit to show them how to parry and effectively argue our case, we landed the support of Rep. Warren Chisum, long-known as an arch-conservative, lightning rod author for the most heinous anti-GLBT legislation. His support brought in other crucial moderate GOP co-sponsors and votes and also provided cover for blue dog Dems as well. Our only responsibility was to change the wording to "sexual preference" and "gender non-conformity."
It was a victory I was pleased to help along, but a hollow one personally. In 2001, gender non-conformity was refused inclusion in the bill (with a promise made to me that if we didn't fight this and let this pass, they'd "come back for us" the next session). The bill passed, I held my tongue, but they never "came back" for us. Even this year, while in Austin, I visited with Rep. Chisum again a couple times. He chastised me with reminder that he didn't want to revisit this bill again. However, he was ready once again to support. I'll always remember the bravery of those like Rep. Garnet Coleman, author of 2009's expansion bill in Texas, and the initial co-sponsors like Rep. Rafael Anchia and Rep. Alma Allen, as well as conservative Rep. Chisum and at least one other longtime Republican friend who were ready to bravely support and push this. The bill died in committee after testimony, but these unsung heroes deserve mention.
Memories of victims past stream back. Meeting one of our homeless trans girls in Houston mere months before she was shot and killed in the Montrose sticks in my mind: would this law have helped solve her murder and bring some solace? Seeing the abject, stoic sadness in the faces of the family of Terrianne Summers as I attempted to hold my own emotions in check while eulogizing my activist protégée, knowing her murder is also still unsolved with no justice.
Even in the cases where the murderers were caught, there's only a little solace for the victims' families past. Random memories. Watching the silent tears stream down the solemn face of Paula Mitchell at the Cortez, Colorado vigil in 2001 for her murdered child F.C. Listening to the sobs of Sylvia Guerrero over the phone in 2002, recalling her precious Gwen and how callously her body was dumped and buried, not long after Fred Phelps had found out Sylvia's address and viciously protested in front of her home. Sitting alongside Queen Washington as she recounted for a reporter covering NTAC's 2004 Lobby Day how her baby, Stephanie Thomas, was riddled with bullets a mere block from her home. Hearing the broken-hearted story from Sakia Gunn's mother about the shoddy treatment from Newark authorities and community leaders and later seeing it first-hand in 2004 when our march from West Orange into Newark had only six white faces - four NTAC members and two local PFLAG parents - and was briefly refused entry into the city by police even after organizers had received permits. Hugging an activist friend, Ethan St. Pierre, who was shaken and teary-eyed after having making his very first speech in Boston recounting his aunt, trans woman Deborah Forte, being brutally murdered and having to go to the morgue to identify her body. There's no way to adequately relate experiencing this.
I still recall vividly the long battles and the acrimony over the years of merely having trans people covered by hate crimes. Struggling with conservatives just as we did with the Human Rights Campaign or the Anti-Defamation League for protection. Vehemently arguing with Mara Keisling and Lisa Mottet at the 2003 IFGE convention as they agreed with HRC and ACLU lawyers, and tried to convince me, that "gender" would include "gender identity" due to congressional intent. Less than six month later, finding out first-hand from our own local District Attorney's office that they didn't "give a damn about," nor had the time nor budget to research what congressional intent was as they were following the letter of the law as written in Texas, and nothing beyond.
Even something as indirect as political campaigning paid off. Being an Obama delegate won me few friends in the GLBT community during the primaries. From my lobbying experience though, I knew Hillary Clinton's fondness for incrementalism and lack of knowledge on trans people just as well as I knew Obama's full-scope approach to rights. Trans folks, including myself, fought hard during the campaign up to the national convention and all the way up until election day. That night, 1000 miles from home in battleground Dayton, Ohio, I knew we'd finally won our rights to be included when Ohio was called for Obama and later when it became official that President Barack Obama would soon occupy the White House.
We were branded as pariahs, had our characters impugned and reputations ruined for standing firm on trans inclusion. It was worth it. We now have what we set out to achieve: coverage, rights, recognition. Finally, federally, we're now human.
The Hate Crimes Bill is a watershed symbolic victory for Trans Americans. But beyond the symbolism, we remain vigilant. It's an important first-step, but not the final goal.
This is a guest post by Nancy Nangeroni. Nancy is a transgender community activist, writer, and musician. Former executive director of the International Foundation for Gender Education and former co-host of Gender Talk Radio, she is widely known for her incisive writing and inspiring speaking and media appearances, including the landmark A&E piece "Transgender Revolution." She has been involved in the Transgender community since 1990, and became a leading voice in the Transgender Movement with her call for a national challenge to anti-transgender violence and discrimination in 1995.
Nancy is another member of the trans community who I've asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
~~Autumn~~
By Nancy Nangeroni
Picture this: it's a crisp early December night, and you're walking down the sidewalk of a semi-urban street, carrying a candle whose flame flutters in the night, struggling to stay lit. On one arm, the mother of a trans woman who has just been murdered, and on the other, the sister. Trailing behind, a seemingly endless stream of mourners carrying candles. Against the semi-darkness of a busy street dominated by the sound of traffic and the glare of street lights, the stream struggles for visibility. The mother at your side is not shy about sharing her grief with the world around you, and her cries into the night - "Who took my baby!" - echo off the walls on either side. You did not know the murdered girl for whom the outpouring of grief and solidarity materialized almost overnight, but you cannot help but be moved, deeply, by her mother's generous sharing of her grief. You are part of a community of caring people who have lost one of their own to violence. The somber vigil moves on into the night, following as you lead the bereaved family to the site of the brutal crime. Your entire being resonates with shared loss.
Or this: you've been standing outside of a courthouse where the murderer of a transsexual woman is on trial. She was brutally stabbed to death, and you felt compelled to do something, even if it's just standing outside the courthouse holding a sign protesting violence against trans persons. There are only two or three other people with you. A single reporter asks you a few questions, a photographer takes a photo. Then the doors to the courthouse open, and several people emerge. One of them walks over to you. She tells you she's the sister of the murdered woman. Then she gives you a big hug, telling you how much she appreciates you being there. You feel helpless in the face of her loss, which you can't begin to imagine.
Or this: You've been holding a series of demonstrations outside the courthouse where the murderer of another transsexual is being tried. Now, he's being sentenced, and you've once again stood outside the courthouse, handing out fliers protesting the denigration of the victim, the whitewashing of the murderer's guilt. It's your third demonstration in the past several weeks, and only one other person has joined you this time. After awhile, the two of you head inside to witness the sentencing firsthand. As you step off the elevator and turn towards the courtroom, a bathroom door across the hallway opens. A man emerges, and, unbelievably, you recognize the face of the bastard that strangled a transwoman to death in his own bedroom, and who is now trying to get away with it. For an instant, your voice catches in your throat. What do you say? Do you try to make him feel the weight of his guilt, the hurt that he has done not just to that girl, but to a family and a community? Do you lash out at him in raw hatred? Or do you stare at him stonily, and let him imagine his own worst nightmare?
I'm one of the lucky ones. These instances are as close as I've come to the brutality too often dealt to those who dare to follow their own transgender compass. I do what I can to help those less fortunate, joined by a growing community. And now we have a federal Hate Crimes law to help prosecute those who trample our humanity.
This is what progress looks like. It comes too late for too many. But it is the latest of many steps forward, and for that I am grateful.
Gwen is yet another trans community voice who I've asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
~~Autumn~~
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
Since early in the creation and promotion of the Remembering Our Dead project and the Transgender Day of Remembrance, I've made one thing clear: the most important right we can have is simply the right to exist.
When a person is murdered due to anti-transgender violence, it is so often more than a simple killing. Our killers take great pains to obliterate us, participating so often in trying to erase our existence. They'll stab us not once or twice, but dozens or even hundreds of times. They'll cut off our genitals or mutilate our breasts, attempting to destroy not only our bodies but the physical markers of our genders. They'll beat us, strangle us, burn us, and do all they can to make us go away and become a non-being. It's not just murder -- it is eradication.
With the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, the federal government under President Obama has taken a stand against these acts. No longer is it so easy to erase us, and no longer shall it be acceptable to treat us as disposable. We are now no longer to be treated as such, in much the same way we are protected due to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or disability.
Indeed, by the very passage of this bill, actual or perceived gender -- what we identify as, and/or how we are seen -- is not just part of a hate crime law, but it past of the law overall. This is not just saying that we deserve to not be subject to a hate crime, but that we exist in the first place.
Are there still hills to climb? Of course. The law will still need to be seen in use. We'll have to see if it deters any crimes, and if any crimes that do happen are treated as hate crimes. It is one thing to have the language in there, and quite another to see the law applied.
Yet by an act of Congress and the stroke of the President's pen, I and those like me have been brought into existence on a Federal level. They have stood firmly opposite those who would seek to see me and others wiped away and forgotten.
We exist, and no one can take that away from us -- at least not without facing the specter of the Matthew Shepard Act and the 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Law. It feels remarkably good to know this.
This is a guest post by Helen Boyd. Helen Boyd is the author of My Husband Betty and She's Not the Man I Married. Her partner Betty transitioned in the past few years and they've found themselves living in Wisconsin, where Boyd teaches Gender Studies at Lawrence University. Her blog (en)gender can be found at www.myhusbandbetty.com.
Helen, as part of a trans family (and in a community sense, part of
my trans family), is another trans community voice who I asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009. ~~Autumn~~
Why we have to pass a law to tell people it's not okay to hurt or kill people for whom or what they are is beyond me.
Why we have to inform police and other law enforcement that the victim of a crime is a victim of a crime even if she is black, trans, and queer is completely baffling, and frustrating.
Why a person who is different provokes such violent rage is incomprehensible.
What is true is that these kinds of crimes happen, and they are happening this year at an alarming rate. We know, despite the protections that have been on the books a long while, that people are still killed for being black, Muslim or from a country currently out of favor in the US. People have been killed for being gay, for being assumed to be gay, for being trans and for being gendered differently.
We in the trans community know full well that the more crossroads of identity you live with - being black while trans, being female while Muslim, being differently-abled and poor - the more likely it is that you will face discrimination, hate, or violence. Any combination of minority identity leaves you vulnerable.
José Sucuzhañay didn't have time to explain that the man whose arm he was holding was his brother's when he was beaten by homophobic haters one night in Brooklyn. That José Sucuzhañay was already protected against a hate crime as an immigrant and a Latino didn't matter to the guys who thought he was gay. For someone like me, who is lesbian and not-lesbian, queer and heterosexual, explaining the complicated layers of my identity won't help. We are all one object of hate, immigrant and trans person, prostitute and Muslim, brother or wheelchair-dependent person. We are all one in our difference, minorities within a minority, and so the same object of scorn and fear to the people who would harm us.
What the Hate Crimes Act does is make us multiple; the additional protections that have been added to federal Hate Crimes Law help others recognize the many ways we are, and can be. So while we know these laws won't make us safe, they will make the crimes against us countable. They make the fear and mourning of our families visible. These new protections recognize our humanity and our families and our struggles.
Now you know we had to find out what 700 Club host and all-around fundie gasbag Pat Robertson's reaction to signing the hate crimes bill into law. As usual, it rates on the high end of the Batsh*tometer. (Think Progress):
PAT ROBERTSON: The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians to keep them from speaking out on certain moral issues. And it all was embodied in something called the Hate crimes bill that President Obama said was a major victory for America. I'm not sure if America was the beneficiary. [...] We have voted into office a group of people who are opposed to many of the fundamental Christian beliefs of our nation. And they hold to radical ideology, and they are beginning put people sharing their points of view into high office. And not only that, they not only have control of both houses of Congress.
Allyson is another trans community voice who I asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
~~Autumn~~
By Allyson Robinson
In remarks delivered at the White House reception marking his signature of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, President Obama said, "No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hand of the person they love. No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are." As corny as it sounds, it felt a little like the President was holding my hand or watching my back when he said those words.
My wife Danyelle and I have been married for 15 years and for most of that time, we were that stereotypically sappy couple everyone hates. If we were in arm's reach of each other, we were holding hands. If more than 15 minutes had passed since we'd kissed last, we kissed, and we didn't care who was watching. We were a romantic comedy's worth of winks, loving looks, and giggles. But all that was before I began my gender transition and started being perceived by the public as a woman.
Just a couple of months ago, we were enjoying some time together without our four children - an occurrence that is all too rare for us these days - having dinner and seeing a movie a the local cineplex. As we walked through the mall to the theater, our steps drifted closer to each other, and our hands touched. Instinctively, Danyelle reached out to take my hand in hers. Just as instinctively, I pulled my hand away, lest anyone around us see. She was hurt, and so was I, but talking about it later we both agreed that the risk of harassment or violence was just too great. There will be no more public hand-holding for us. Our fear for our safety has pushed our perfectly legal, perfectly reasonable, perfectly laudable affection for one another into the closet.
Back when I was publicly perceived as a man, I never looked over my shoulder - never. I played high school football, attended Army paratrooper school, led infantry soldiers on patrol through the Korean DMZ and air defense soldiers in convoy through city streets where we knew we were being targeted for terror attacks. I am trained in self-defense and was even a pretty good boxer at West Point. But I've realized that none of these things are what allowed me to walk alone through a dark parking lot or down an alley without fear. What kept me from feeling afraid back then was the simple fact that, as a white male, I was just not a target. It wasn't long after I began my transition that I came to understand just how much things had changed for me. Today I diligently avoid places I never hesitated to enter before because I am a target. With little more than a change of wardrobe, I transited from one of the least vulnerable classes of people in our society to one of the most. Looking over my shoulder has become second nature.
President Obama's words - "No one should be afraid to hold a loved one's hand or be forced to look over their shoulder" - speak to the lofty ideal behind the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. They remind us of our Constitution's commitment to life as the first "inalienable right." They acknowledge painful the truth Americans are often either too ashamed or too arrogant to admit: that some of us have less value in the public mind than others, and crimes committed against us weigh less heavily on the public conscience than crimes committed against others. And they commit the strength of the President, the power of Congress, and the authority of the federal government to the protection of those who are made vulnerable by such prejudice and ignorance. That's what the Shepard-Byrd Act means to me.
Let's be realistic: this law will not prevent the next anti-trans or anti-gay hate crime from happening, nor the one after that. Hate will hurt and kill again, and again. Danyelle and I don't feel any safer holding hands in public today than we did yesterday, and I'll still look over my shoulder when I walk to my car tonight. But something has changed. Yesterday, my own federal government had not yet embraced its responsibility to guarantee my right to life by protecting me, and those like me, from acts of senseless violence. Today, my human value, as a transgender person and a lesbian, is explicitly acknowledged, for the first time in history, in the law of the land.
One of the elder statesmen of the LGBT civil rights movement once told me that, as hard as passing good laws is, it's really one of the easiest parts of our work. "The hard part," he said, "is changing the culture in ways that undergird those good laws - so that our children's generation will find it hard to believe we needed laws like this in the first place." I think, though, that good laws - when they're properly understood and adequately enforced - can contribute to cultural change. Because of the Shepard-Byrd Act, maybe one day my children will really be able to hold the hand of a loved one without being afraid of how people will react or walk down the street without looking over their shoulder. Then, and only then, will our work be done.
State Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, said the newly passed Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends hate crimes law protections to include actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, oversteps the bounds of the federal government and hinders free speech and religious freedom.
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
I'm looking into finding out anything more about this terrible murder, as well as how the new federal hate crimes law works in Puerto Rico.
For years, transgender activists fought to be included in this legislation because of the ongoing level of violence against transgender people across the nation. For many of us, the darkest hour came in 2005 when nearly 40 national groups singed a joint letter to members of the U.S. Senate urging them to adopt the fully inclusive bill which had passed the House, while another group, after pledging they would fight "only" for fully inclusive legislation, both refused to sign that letter and issued its own urging Senators to ignore the House action and adopt a separate bill that left transgender people. The argument that this "strategy" was necessary to pass such a bill was bigoted and, simply, poor politics.
