REPORT: Anti-Gay Violent Crimes In 2009

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs today issued their annual report on the reported violent crimes against LGBT people in 2009. The news isn't great.

Anti-LGBTQ hate violence continues to be a pervasive social problem at the same time as vital resources and support for hate violence survivors are at risk amidst economic crisis. This year, 22 victims of hate murder were reported by NCAVP, the second-highest rate in a decade, reflecting a pattern of severe and persistent violence against LGBTQ communities. Notably, NCAVP saw the highest spike in reported incidents of violence in October 2009, coinciding with the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This statistic seems to reflect a correlation between increased visibility and increased vulnerability and targeting. Despite these disturbing trends, financial support and much needed services for hate violence survivors have only declined due to ongoing economic conditions.

Of the 22 reported hate murder victims in 2009, 79% were people of color, and most were transgender women or were feminine-presenting. As evidenced in this report, members of traditionally marginalized communities continue to be disproportionately targeted for severe violence. “These facts are deeply disturbing as these are the same people who are more likely to face discrimination, criminalization or further violence when interacting with criminal legal and social service systems. What we see is that they are less likely to seek and access support from these institutions,” said Maria Carolina Morales, Intervention Director of Community United Against Violence (CUAV) in San Francisco.

The report stresses that since many of the coalition's member groups suffering funding cuts last year, an unknown number of violent crimes probably went unreported and uninvestigated.

RELATED: The New York City Council has declared today a "Day of Solidarity" with the LGBT community in Puerto Rico following the seventh murder of a gay person there in 2010. The City Council denounced the "unacceptable, deafening silence from Puerto Rican authorities in response to the brutal violence and murders" of LGBT people.

Puerto Rico Empanels Hate Crimes Investigation Unit

After a rash of brutal hate crimes, the Puerto Rican government has empaneled a special investigative committee.

The announcement by the attorney general was cheered Saturday by activists who complain the government has yet to invoke 2002 legislation establishing harsher penalties for crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. "I think this is a step in the right direction to start to collect statistics that are vital to curb the crisis of violence against the gay community in Puerto Rico," said Pedro Julio Serrano, a native of the U.S. territory and spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Serrano said 25 slayings of gay and transgender people in the past eight years may have been motivated by bias - including the decapitation in November of gay teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, whose killing inspired vigils as far away as New York and Chicago. The new government committee involves agencies including the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Juan, police officials and the island's civil rights commission, according to a statement release by the attorney general late Friday.

Ricky Martin, Part Two

Another member of Menudo has followed Ricky Martin out of the closet. Matthew Rettenmund at Boy Culture reports:

Angelo Garcia, once the youngest-ever member of Menudo and a bandmate of Ricky Martin's, has come out as gay in the pages of TV Notas (Junio 8, 2010). In the piece, he says he's never been closeted: "I'm very honest about who I am, but I don't like labels...people need to understand that someone's sexuality doesn't make the person. I'm more than that, a son, brother a musician..." But I believe he is confirming his identity publicly for the first time on the heels of appearing nude in a gay magazine.

Lots more photos at the Boy Culture link.

Another Trans Murder In Puerto Rico?

It appears that Puerto Rico has seen its third transgender woman murdered in about six months. Andres Duque at Blabbeando translates for us:

Almost a month after the grisly murder of Ashley, a transsexual hairdresser from Corozal, the country relives the tragedy with the death of Angie González Oquendo, who was tortured and murdered by someone whom the victim’s father presumes is her sentimental partner. The strong stench permeating Columbus Boulevard Street in Caguas is what moved neighbors to call the authorities, who then found the body in an advanced state of decomposition. According to public prosecutor Candida Selles, the murder, which will be investigated as a hate crime, might have occurred on Friday. It was just on that day that family and friends of "Angie", whose real name was Angel and was 37 years of age, last saw her alive. "On Friday, she went to the supermarket where I work, greeted me and said, 'Daddy, give me a dollar’. And I gave it to her. After that, I didn’t see her again,” said Ángel González Aponte, the still shaken father of the victim who was found stark naked, with her hands tied, strangled with an electrical cord and with multiple stab wounds in her body.

More on this as it develops.

PUERTO RICO: Parents React To Guilty Plea From Gay Son's Killer

Activist Pedro Julio Serrano and the parents of murdered gay teen Jorge Mercado spoke to the local news after their son's killer plead guilty. You don't have to speak one word of Spanish to be moved by this.

PUERTO RICO: Guilty Plea In Murder Of Gay Teen Jorge Mercado

Juan José Martínez Matos has pleaded guilty to the murder of gay Puerto Rican teenager Jorge Mercado (left), whose decapitated and burned body was found by a roadside last November. Mercado's murder caused an international outcry and forced activists to pressure the federal government to ensure that the case was prosecuted as a hate crime by Puerto Rican authorities. Michael Lavers at Edge reports:

Martínez told the court he understood the consequences of his actions, and Judge Miriam Camila Jusino immediately sentenced him to 99 years in prison. Primera Hora reported López’s parents, Myriam Mercado and Jorge López, hugged prosecutor Yaritza Carrasquillo after the hearing. Mercado told the newspaper, however, Martínez’s confession was bittersweet for her and her family. "We are able to find a bit of peace in this aspect, but it still not going to return Steven," she said. "But at least there is justice in Puerto Rico." Jorge López evoked his faith. "I want to send a message to Juan (Casper) and tell him there is hope in Christ," said López with tears in his eyes. "The lord has forgiveness for him, Irregardless of what has happened. God has a plan for him if he opens his heart to Christ. God will forgive him also."

Easy Eternal Rider

At the request of the family of the deceased, a funeral home in Puerto Rico posed the embalmed body of a motorcycle enthusiast astride his favorite ride. Beyond creepy.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

Trans Woman Murdered In Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican police report that transwoman Ashley Santiago was founded stabbed to death in her home yesterday. This is the second high-profile murder of an LGBT person in Puerto Rico in recent months. Michael Lavers at EDGE reports:

Primera Hora reported authorities discovered Ashley Santiago’s naked body in the kitchen of her house in Corozal, which is roughly 25 miles southwest of the Puerto Rican capital. Santiago, 31, was a popular hair stylist at a local salon. El Nuevo Día reported Santiago’s mother went to a local police station to report she had not heard from her daughter since Sunday, April 18. Police said Santiago had been stabbed 14 times. And El Nuevo Día further reported the victim’s 2009 Toyota Corolla was not parked in front of her home. Santiago’s death comes a little more than five months after Jorge Steven López Mercado’s brutal murder stunned Puerto Rico.

The NGLTF's Pedro Julio Serrano has asked police to investigate the murder as a possible hate crime. Puerto Rican authorities had to be pressured into charging the murderer of Jorge Mercado under the island's rarely used hate crimes law.