More on Bushwick bias crime against Ecuadorean brothers

Mike Lavers from EDGE covered today's press conference ("Brooklyn hate crime leaves man in critical condition"). From the article:

A 31-year-old Ecuadorian man remains in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital after four men allegedly attacked him and his brother with baseball bats and bottles near their Bushwick home early Sunday morning in what police are investigating as a anti-gay and anti-Latino hate crime

...This attack comes a month after a group of seven Long Island teenagers allegedly attacked Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue. Local authorities have charged Jeffrey Conroy with second-degree murder as a hate crime for allegedly fatally stabbing Lucero in the chest on Nov. 8. They also charged him and his alleged co-conspirators with hate crime and conspiracy counts.

The New York Times City Room blog has additional details ("Bushwick beating investigated as a hate crime"):

A law enforcement official said that at about 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, the man and his brother, described by officials as Ecuadorian immigrants, were walking at Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue when a carload of men pulled up nearby. The brothers, who had been drinking, were walking “arm-in-arm” to support each other, the official said.

A man who got out of the car yelled anti-gay and anti-Latino epithets at the brothers, then broke a bottle over the 31-year-old man’s head, the official said.

His brother ran, and at least three other men who were in the car set upon the 31-year-old, beating him with a baseball bat and kicking him, the official said. The beating stopped when the brother returned, holding his cellphone, and told the attackers he had just called the police, the official said. All the attackers were black, the official said.

UPDATE: The local ABC news station says the following video report [h/t NG]

• The two brothers were a block away from reaching home when they were attacked
  
• Their family lives in Ecuador and has been notified about the attack, they must now decide whether one of their sons, who is at Elmhurst Hospital, will be kept on life support.
• At today's press conference, Councilmember Diana Reyna said that the family has decided to not allow him to suffer"
• There is a vigil planned for tomorrow evening set to begin outside Elmhurst Hospital

UPDATE 2: The Times now has a full report online ("Attack on Ecuadorean Brothers Investigated as Hate Crime"). It identifies the brother who is in life-support tonight as Jose Sucuzhanay (above), the owner of a real estate agency.

UPDATE 3: On December 9th, there were reports that the most seriously injured of the brothers had died victims had died but those reports have now been retracted.

Breaking: Anti-gay, anti-Latino slurs shouted at Ecuadorean men during beating in Brooklyn

UPDATE: Namely, the two brothers were drunk and holding each other as they were helping each other to get home, the assailants apparently deduced that they were a gay couple when they noticed the two men. Additional info at "More on Bushwick bias crime against Ecuadorean brothers"
---

This morning I got a press conference announcement from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's office which read, in part, as follows.

Statement by Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn

Re: Alleged Hate Crime in Brooklyn

I was outraged to learn this morning that two men were assaulted at Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, and especially horrified to learn that anti-LGBT and anti-Latino slurs were used by one or more of the assailants - raising this event to the level of a hate crime.

My office is in touch with the family of the victims and offers our prayers. We have also been in touch with the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force, and thank them for their immediate response and hard work. We are confident that those who committed this crime will be apprehended. Together we are calling on all who might have any information about this crime to come forward immediately to the NYPD.

Those who perpetrated this crime must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This cowardly display of hate against two innocent men only re-enforces the need to continue to inform and educate the public about the destruction that hate can cause.

We all must open our eyes to the hate that exists around us and work together to fight against those that demonize others and allow stereotypes to lead them to acts of unconscionable violence. We are all partners against hate. When we come together, to stand up, every time we witness an act motivated by hate, we will send the message that we will not stand for the destruction that comes along with it.

Members of the City Council, community leaders, clergy, and I will hold a press conference December 8th at 12:30 pm on the steps of City Hall to continue to stand up for the victims and to speak out against this vicious crime and all crimes perpetrated by hate.

I sought information online and just found this from ABC News:

Two Ecuadorian brothers were beaten, one critically, during an apparently unprovoked attack in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn Sunday morning that may be a bias crime.

The victims were walking home from a bar when they were attacked by three or four men, who jumped out of an SUV, at the intersection of Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue at around 3:30 a.m.

The alleged suspects did not say anything as they began attacking the two brothers.

But during the attack, the suspects used anti-Latino and other racial slurs as they beat the Ecuadorian brothers.

There'll probably be more information available in the next few hours.

Coda: McGhee gets 22 to life in murder of Edgar Garzon

Today at the State Supreme Court in Queens, John L. McGhee was given a sentence of 22 years to life in prison in the 2001 murder of 35 year old Edgar Garzon, closing a painful chapter for his friends and family.

Above, photos from Eddie's life including his baptism (above left); his loving family (just below); Eddie as a child standing next to his mother Leonor (above right); and with the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association crew (several photos at the bottom) hoisting a huge coffee bag with the yellow blue and red colors of the Colombian flag and dancing up a storm down the 5th Avenue Heritage of Pride Parade dressed in the coffee cup costumes he designed for the parade [click on image to make it larger].

An online article by Duncan Osborne posted late today at Gay City News reports that Leonor Garzon, Eddie's mom, addressed McGhee with the help of a translator:

"There is a deep wound in our hearts that will never heal; as you see Mr. McGhee, you have taken us from living a good life... Today, our companions are sadness and loneliness."

McGhee, to the end, maintained his innocence:

"I did not commit this crime," he said. "By locking me away for the rest of my life and leaving the real criminal out there, that may feel good, but that's not justice."

A jury has decided otherwise.

• Full story at "Edgar Garzon's murderer sentenced to at least 22 years".

Previously:
* September 11, 2008: McGhee guilty of 2nd degree murder in killing of Edgar Garzon
* July 17, 2008: Key witness vanishes as 2nd Eddie Garzon murder trial approaches
* September 5, 2007: Last night's vigil...
* September 2, 2007: Six years since the murder of Eddie Garzon...
* July 25, 2007: Judge Declares Mistrial in Eddie Garzon murder case
* July 13, 2007: Trial Begins in the Slaying of Edgar Garzon
* February 8, 2007: Michael J. Sandy and Edgar Garzon pre-trial hearings underway
* October 18, 2006: A Pansy for Edgar Garzon
* September 5, 2006: 5th Annual Memorial Mass and Vigil in honor of Eddie Garzon
* July 7, 2006: Gay City News on Eddie Garzon
* July 1, 2006: Armando Garzon talks to El Diario La Prensa
* June 30, 2006: New York Times: Stepping off plane, man is arrested in '01 murder
* Part 1: The Attack
* Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
* Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)
* Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on
* Part 5: The Vigil
* Part 6: A Newsday Editorial
* Part 7: A parade of angels
* Part 8: Epilogue

Mexico: Was Manhunt.net rep racially insensitive?

UPDATE: Manhunt.net's response is here.

[NOTE: This is part two of a two part story] Yesterday I told you about how a Argentinean man living in Mexico was able to use an online gay chat-room to lure a man who had drugged and robbed a friend a week earlier and had him arrested by the Mexican police back in July ("Putocop nabs thief who prayed on gay men online").

Well, there is another angle to the story unrelated to the main one and perhaps you will figure it out by comparing at the photo of the Argentinian hero, Fernando Gabriel Vega (above), and the captured assailant, Agustín Javier Vidal Dionicio (below).

Here is the thing: The part I left out from the La Reforma article I quoted on Sunday was that they reached out to the Mexican representative of Manhunt.net to flesh out information about gay online social sites. Turns out they have a spokesperson based in Mexico named Javier Spinozza and here is what he said in defending such sites:

"More than simply bedding someone and 'If I see you I won't remember,' gays use chats to have a 'freebie,' what is called 'sex friends'" (hm, reminds me of the recent 'I touch and I leave' sex craze in Argentina).

Hm, OK. So far so good. I guess? But when asked why some would use images online that might show themselves looking better than in real life (Dionicio didn't even show his face on his gay.com profile and Vega was able to entice him by sending images from his own gay.com profile), Spinozza says:

"More than anything it's because here in Mexico we are not a country with an Aryan race; there are many mutants, girlfriend, so, if they don't send you a photo, be weary!"

Aryan race? Mutants? Girlfriend? Oh my!

At least one Mexican LGBT-rights activist is up in arms: In a long-ass 'Open Letter to Manhunt.net' sent to several online networks in mid-September, media watchdog Sergio Alan Villarreal spends too much time writing about the virtues of gay online social sites, congratulating the young Spinozza for being chosen as Manhunt.com's Mexican spokesperson, and thanking him for their corporate support for this year's first ever International March Against Stigma, Discrimination and Homophobia.

And then he gets to the nitty-gritty:

"In Mexico, as in many other Latin American countries, we carry the heavy burden of cultural colonialism which persists through publicity messaging which are transmitted in a general manner through a few influential communication media, as well as through movies, television programs - of local and foreign origin - and printed press of all forms."

Hm. OK, I guess that's not 'getting' to the nitty-gritty in one fell swoop. He goes on and on. And on. But then he gets to the nitty-gritty?

"To affirm that 'in Mexico we are not a country of an Aryan race' and that 'there are many mutants' here while making a reference to beautiful people in the Manhunt.net context is not precisely a measure of social sensibility or of slight courtesy of those who are an important part of your meta market. For this reason I request in a friendly and respectful manner that you reconsider your attitude with respect to these issues, considering that these kind of expressions are understandable in the cultural surrounding that we have inherited but before which it is urgent to revisit and transcend in their more significant paradigms."

OMG. Sorry. I have to take a breather.

But I'll make it easier for him: A Manhunt.net representative in Mexico (of all places) arguing that the reason that fewer Mexicans show their true face on the site is because the Aryan race is not predominant in the country - and then calling most Mexicans "mutants?" - Yikes!! I just got the vapors!

Racial dynamics on these sites are sometimes charged with baggage but don't ya think these statements are a tad across the line?

Mexico: Putocop nabs thief who preyed on gay men online

[NOTE: To read a follow up story please click on "Was Manhunt.net racially insensitive?"] It's been a while since I've been able to keep a more consistent blog post schedule and a few stories out there that I would have loved to write about. This is one of them.

It all started with a September 2nd article ("Follows clues, lies and traps him") which ran in Mexico's La Reforma (it's only available to subscribers there but was also published on the same day at Entre Todos with the slightly different title "Follows clues on internet and captures thief").

The article itself is fascinating: 31 year old Fernando Gabriel Vega (above) who was born in Argentina but has lived in Mexico City for the past five years says that he became livid when he heard what had happened to his close friend Zenaido Torres.

On July 23rd Torres was browsing through the personal profiles at the popular online hook-up site gay.com when he struck up a conversation with someone with the nickname of 'lalotlane' and ended inviting him to come over to his apartment. When the man arrived, he immediately said he'd brought drinks and offered him a bottle: "I drank and I stopped right there," says Torres, "I didn't know [anything] else."

Once his victim had passed out, Agustín Javier Vidal Dionicio (alias 'lalotlane') proceeded to steal a computer, a digital camera, two cellular phones and four credit cards, one of which he used the next day, charging up to U$4,500.

The card belonged to Torres' employer and when he failed to show up to work the next day and the card company reported irregular charges on the credit card, his boss got suspicious and sent a messenger to his home. Torres was found in a stupor speaking nonsense and was taken to a hospital.

Torres' employer alerted Vega who went to see him at the hospital. "I felt so much anguish seeing him in that way that the next day I began to monitor the chat, waiting for the dude to get connected," said Vega, "My friend had acted in good faith, and that abuse bothered me."

Exactly a week after his friend was drugged and robbed, Vega finally saw 'lalotlane' pop up online which also made him realize that there were no images of his face in his profile. Jokingly, Vega says that he realized at that exact moment that it was time "to put my beauty at the service of justice."

First, he sent several of his photos and asked if he could get Dionicio's in return. Dionicio resisted and warned Vega that he was not what others considered to be a good-looking man. Vega then used his trump card: Using details from his friend's description of the assailant, he came up with a description of his alleged 'fantasy man' which, of course, fit Dionicio's look to a T.

Dionicio finally agreed to show himself on a computer camera and Vega took the opportunity to take several digital pictures of 'lalotlane' (including the one at right). Dionicio also agreed to come over that night.

With only 40 minutes to decide what to do, Vega first sent the images he had captured to Torres for confirmation and then decided that Torres would go look for the police while Dionicio arrived.

Dionicio arrived around 10:30 at night carrying a bag with four blue-tinted "Fixion Ice Blue" alcoholic beverage bottles and immediately offered one to Vega. Vega, who had just opened a Diet Coke before his arrival, told Dionicio that he'd rather finish his drink first.

The police took a bit longer to arrive: "I had to stretch it out, and began to inquire about the dude's life and work," says Vega, "'What do you do, how many brothers do you have, your mom, your dad, the cat, the dog...' What did it matter to me? But I had to make time. He never suspected anything, and it's because I acted enchanted by his presence; I could have won an Oscar! But my adrenaline was so 1,000 that, I swear, I was certain that I could have ripped his head off with a punch, and I wanted to. What he did to my friend was very ugly."

In the meantime Torres finally found a policeman riding a motorcycle and requested assistance. The cop called for more units and by the time Torres arrived at Vega's apartment twenty armed officers (twenty!?) were entering Vegas' building in silence.

Vega had left his apartment door unlocked and the officers were able to capture Dionicio without any struggle. They found a bottle of Rivotril in his possession (a muscle-relaxant which can increase in potency if mixed with alcohol and can cause impaired motor functions, mental confusion, drowziness and even coma if misused).

Since July, Dionicio has been charged with 'illicit qualifying robbery' which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Vega and Torres have posted fliers with Dionicio's photo all over Torres' neighborhood seeking other possible victims who might want to bring charges. But they say that few are willing to be open about hooking up with other men online and/or fear that Dionicio might seek revenge if and after he serves a jail term.

Asked if he is afraid that Dionicio might seek revenge, Vega says "I do not have any fear, absolutely none, and if some day he comes by he knows he will lose, because I won't hold back and I will beat him up."

He also says that the police still check on them from time to time. "It's that they consider me part of their team because I acted like a detective," he half-joked, "'It's as if you worked for us,' they said."

A police officer, speaking anonymously confirms that this is exactly what the police department thinks of Vega.

In the meantime, Vega, who says he felt attracted to Superman as a kid and held a short-lived desire to own Wonder Woman's cape, says he is charmed to have earned a slightly un-PC new nickname from his friends: "Putocop" (loosely translated as "Fagcop").

He laughs it off but turns serious and says that it bothers him that if it wasn't for him sitting at his computer tracking down Dionicio for a week he would not have been caught. It's something, he says, that the police should have done after his friend Torres reported he had been drugged and robbed.

Colombia: Senate rejects same-sex partnership bill AGAIN; gay-friendly Notary Public shot to death in Bogota

Without much fanfare, a Colombian Senate committee rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have brought the legislative branch of the Colombian government up to speed with several Constitutional Court rulings determining that same-sex couples should be granted access to limited partnership benefits.

According to a statement released by Senator Gloria Inés Ramírez, the bill would have addressed what the country's top court identified as a legislative "deficit of protection" for same-sex couples. It would also have extended all the legal rights and protections already afforded to heterosexual couples in a common-law unions or long-term partnerships to same-sex couples.

It was the sixth time since 1999 that such a bill was rejected (the last time being June of 2007 when a similar bill was widely expected to pass and be signed by President Alvaro Uribe into law).

In the last two years, Colombia's Constitutional Court had determined that same-sex couples must be granted the right to share their common assets (Feb. 2007), their social security and health insurance benefits (Oct. 2007), and their pension benefits (Apr. 2008).

The Senate's failure to act does not mean that same-sex couples have lost any of these limited protections. If I understand correctly, it means that same-sex partners can continue to avail themselves by registering their names at at a notary office - but it still falls short of having the actual relationship be recognized as a civil union or marriage.

Gay-friendly notary public shot to death last night in Bogota: Now, back in February, I reported that it didn't seem to matter to a number of same-sex couples that access to a few rights did not mean that same-sex civil unions had been or were even close to being recognized by the government: They treated it as such anyway.

According to El Tiempo, notary public Norberto Salamanca - who oversaw partnership registrations at Notary Office 76 - stated that he'd "seen couples and guests carrying wedding invites in their hand, reading statements, taking pictures of the event and exchanging rings," adding "Some couples kiss each other to seal the ceremony" (see "One Bogota notary office, a hundred same-sex partnership registrations").

For his willingness to be on camera and to be interviewed by media during some of these ceremonies, Mr. Salamanca became perhaps the best-known notary public accepting these types of registrations (at the time El Tiempo had identified only two notary offices willing to register -sex couples in all of Bogota and said that Mr. Salamanca's office led in number of registrations putting the figure at 100).

Imagine my sadness this morning when I read reports online that Mr. Salamanca had been shot to death at 8:15 last night while he sat in his car.

Mexico's Milenio says that the police were looking for two gunmen who "escaped with great velocity towards an unknown destination."

They also note that Salamanca was well-known for his work with gay couples, "which cost him criticism from diverse conservative organizations that graded him as a detractor of morality."

Colombia's El Espectador says that Mr. Salamanca had driven his Mercedes Benz and had parked outside a building in an upper-class Bogota neighborhood as he waited to pick up his children from their place of residence. He was shot four times and died before his body was brought to a nearby hospital.

El Tiempo says that authorities are offering a reward equivalent to $24,000 dollars to anyone who provides information that leads them to the killer, who was said to be between 22 and 24 years of age, and said that they were also looking for a second man who was seen running away from the scene.

General Rodolfo Palomino, Director of the Bogota Police Department, said that they assume that those responsible for the crime are people who are opposed to same-sex partnerships but Salamanca's family told the paper that they didn't see a clear reason as to why someone would want to kill Mr. Salamanca.

In the meantime, El Espectador has uploaded a Caracol News segment on YouTube (below) which includes an interview Mr. Salamanca gave to CM& News hours before he was killed.

In the interview, Mr. Salamanca is asked whether notary officials should be authorized to act as judges while hundreds of judicial workers are engaging in a current ongoing strike. (bringing to a halt thousands of court cases).

Mr. Salamanca argues that notary officers can indeed serve as judges in some cases if only to assist with the backlog and that the notary office system provides a viable infrastructure for these cases to move forward in light that the court system has shut down.

Eerily he begins the interview with these words: "Since in Colombia there is no justice..."

Let's hope that's not the case and that justice comes in his murder.

Gay Brazilian priest found strangled in Brooklyn, Daily News online readers leave offensive comments

Ever since I read about it this morning, I've been deeply disturbed by a story from the New York Daily News ("Slain priest Jose Ricardo Ferreira de Souza killed helping others?").

From the article:

Struggling to understand his violent death, friends of a Brazilian priest found strangled on the Brooklyn shore said Monday he may have been a victim of his own kindness. Jose Ricardo Ferreira de Souza, 31, whose body was discovered on Brighton Beach on Wednesday, helped fellow Brazilians with immigration paperwork and aided homeless people...

Witnesses saw two or three men beating a man who fit de Souza's description and pull him down to the water's edge about 1 a.m., police sources said...

De Souza's body was discovered about an hour later, clad only in his shirt and socks. Relatives in Brazil have said his cell phone and wallet were missing.

His family told NYPD detectives that de Souza, a bishop in the breakaway Vetero Catholic Church, was gay. Friends, however, said he did not proposition strangers, and it was unlikely that was what triggered a beating.

This reminds me of the 2006 homicide of Michael J. Sandy which also took place late at night by the Brooklyn shore even though I don't know Brooklyn well enough to know if both incidents happened nearby. A gay man's life is gone but don't tell that to Daily News readers who don't seem to care and are already blaming the victim. A sampling:

• How do they know a bunch of angry Russkies didn't kick his arse because he was making gay passes at them?
• Well he IS dressed like Liberace in the picture. How do we know gay men don't join the priesthood for the fashion? You think those guys had Sex and the City nights following Sunday evening mass when the show was on HBO?
• De Sousa was a 31 year old Catholic gay Priest. He wasnot out there at 1am to assist anyone with paperwork. Pedophilia and homosexuality has long been a problem among Catholic clergy.
• Was he out counseling someone at 1 in the morning? Or was he cruising and got caught by some drunken gay bashers who didnt realize he was a priest and got ****** when he tried to cruise them? OR, was this the standard case of a couple of dudes that saw the opportunity to get their "tally-whacked" then beat the f-a-g to make sure he doesnt tell anyone? People, dont let the fact that this dude was a priest deter the common sense factor here.

Supposedly the Daily News has a link that allows people to flag offensive replies but these - others - have been up all day long. Imagine you being his family and having to read such trash.

De Souza's body will be flown to Brazil to his family. Friends in Brooklyn held a small memorial yesterday at his apartment.

Updates: Arrest in Angie Zapata murder, US HIV ban partially lifted

Arrest made in murder of Angie Zapata: Allen Ray Andrade (right) was arrested yesterday morning in Greely, Colorado, and charged with last week's brutal murder of transgender woman Angie Zapata.

In an affidavit obtained by The Denver Post of statements Andrade made to the police after being arrested, he says that he reacted violently after he realized Zapata was transgender after spending a night at her place, hitting her first with his fist and then with a fire estinguisher.

The arresting police officer quotes Andrade as saying that he thought he had "killed it" and then proceeded to wrap the body in a blanket. He then tried to clean up the mess but "after he noticed Zapata sitting up, he hit her again with the fire extinguisher."

He might claim temporary insanity once the trial comes but he seemed to recover his marbles pretty fast since he then systematically ran through the apartment and gathered some of Zapata's belongings including her purse, cellphone and car. Andrade has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated motor-vehicle theft .

I had previously written about the case here and here. Monica Roberts has additional commentary here.

• Related: Colorado 'transgender panic' killing to be tried as a hate crime (Page One Q)

United States HIV ban partially lifted: It's been said that one of President George W. Bush's few semi-positive legacies will be the increase in funding that the United States contributes towards HIV prevention worldwide and, as part of a funding initiative that he signed into law yesterday, he also removed a federal ban on allowing HIV positive non-residents enter the country.

For those of us who have long advocated for a repeal of this discriminatory policy, it was a bitter-sweet but incredible moment. I have first-hand knowledge of the hell that so many go through when they have been eligible for immigration status but for their HIV status and this relic of the Jesse Helms anti-gay era is almost out of here.

Almost, because the removal from federal policy does not automatically remove the discriminatory language from the Department of Health and Human Services stipulations on who is allowed to enter the United States ("Ban on travelers with HIV to U.S. partially lifted", Los Angeles Times).

Immigration Equality, one of the leading organizations behind the repeal, have this to say about it. I previously wrote about the issue here.

Transgender Latina teen murdered in Colorado

History unfortunately keeps repeating itself. Word tonight that a 18 year-old transgender Latina woman has been murdered in Greely, Colorado.

NBC affiliate 9 News reports that close to 200 people gathered today at a Baptist church to mourn the passing of Angie Zapata (born Justin) who was found beaten to death in her apartment a week ago on Thursday.

Police indicate that they have information that might lead to an arrest and have not ruled out that this might be a hate crime but they have also indicated that the killer or killers might be acquaintances of the victim.

On a related matter, blogger TransGriot is taking the Associated Press to task for their common practice of calling trans people by their name of birth instead of their current adopted name ("Another transwoman murdered, another media diss").

AP reporter Mike Peters - who wrote the original story and made no mention of Zapata's gender identity ("Car still missing in homicide") - acknowledged his mistake in a follow up column posted today ("Homicide victim was living as a woman"). Unfortunately he takes a defensive attitude and name-tags the Greely police department, the Weld County's Coroner's Office, and the fact that Angie identified herself with the name of Justin in a couple appearances before a Colorado court for traffic-related violations as reason enough to have identified her as a male in his first report.

Both her parents, who mourn her passing at this time, accepted her fully as a woman and are said to have been greatly supportive of Angie. Let's hope they catch the perpetrators.

Key witness vanishes as 2nd Eddie Garzon murder trial approaches

Long time readers of this blog know that during the early days I tried to write down my recollections on finding that a friend had been assaulted on the streets of Queens in August of 2001 and subsequently passed away from the injuries a few days before 9/11. 35 year old Eddie Garzon had apparently been the victim of a brutal gay bashing.

Two years ago 38 year old John L. McGhee was arrested by police as he stepped out of a plane from London. He was charged in Garzon's murder and was taken to court.

Stunningly, despite testimony from a star witness who said he had been with McGhee on the night of the attack and observed the beating, the trial ended in a mistrial (it should be said, though, that by all accounts, witness Christopher Ricalde's testimony did contain some inconsistencies).

The Queens Distric Attorney's Office promised at the time to bring McGhee back to court for a second trial.

This week I spoke to a reporter from El Diario La Prensa who is writing an article on the new trial for this Sunday's paper. She also interviewed Eddie's parents.

But even as the new trial is slated to begin next month, I was stunned today when Duncan Osborne at Gay City News alerted me to an article just posted online ("Witness Lost in Gay Murder Case"). Osborbe reports that Ricalde can't be found and will probably not testify at the new trial.

Sharon Stapel, Executive Director the New York City Anti-Violence Project, told GCN that there was no way to predict the impact of the missing witness. "Obviously, at AVP we are happy that the district attorney's office is pursuing this case with all of the resources they've put behind it," she said.

But I can't help but feel angry that the Queens District Attorney's Office has lost track of what only could be considered as their star witness.

According to GCN, "Without Ricalde on the stand, a jury will hear [McGhee's attorney]'s original cross examination read from the transcript, but jurors will not see his potentially flawed testimony."

UPDATE: McGhee guilty of 2nd degree murder in killing of Edgar Garzon (Sept. 11, 2008)

This Saturday: A vigil in memory of Sanesha Stewart

Organizations such as FIERCE!, The Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the Audre Lorde Project have been sending alerts this week about a community vigil taking place this Saturday in memory and celebration of the life of Sanesha Stewart (left) who was stabbed to death in February at the age of 25.

Here are details about the vigil and, below, what other bloggers are saying about the life of Sanesha, the lack of awareness about her murder and the problematic initial coverage by the New York Daily News.

Sanesha Stewart Vigil: On February 10, Sanesha Stewart, a young trans woman of color, was murdered in her apartment in the Bronx. Please join Family, Friends and Community Members for a Community Vigil to Honor the Memory and Celebrate her life.
When: Saturday, April 5, 2008 - 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Where: Bronx Community Pride Center, 448 East 149th Street, Bronx, New York (2 train to 3rd ave./149th Street Station)

The Vigil will be followed by a reception at the Bronx Community Pride Center. For more information call: 718-292-4368 or 1-866-4GAYCARE

Donations: If you would like to make a financial contribution to the family of to help pay for funeral expenses please send a check or money order to: Evelyn Stewart, 3529 Tieman Ave. Apt 2, Bronx, NY 10469.

Other reactions:
Sanesha was a client at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project where Holly volunteers and, even though she never met Sanesha, she posted her thoughts at Feministe ("Sanesha Stewart is dead and I have only tears and frustration for her," Feb. 12, 2008). She links up to other reactions as well.

Cara, over at The Curvature, takes a look at the initial and problematic coverage of the murder by the New York Daily News ("On the Murder of Sanesha Stewart," Feb. 13, 2008).

Jack, at Angry Brown Butch, writes about the murder in the context of hate crime legislation that does not include transgender people ("Sanesha Stewart, Larry King and why hate crime legislation won't help," Feb. 20, 2008).

And, at The Washington Post's The Root blog, journalist Kai Wright ponders the reasons behind the wildly different reactions regarding the murder of queer folk ("Queer, Dead and Nobody Cares," Feb. 26, 2008).

Update: More shocking details emerge in murder of gay man in Mexico

Reports of violent murders of LGBT people throughout Latin America are unfortunately still common but a few days ago there was one particular murder in in Acapulco, Mexico, that shocked me based on the few details that were reported in media.

The body of 48-year old Alejandro Fuentes Mejia was found on the morning of February 21st with his hands tied behind his back in a dirt road that cut through a park near his place of employment.

Mejia had last been seen the day before at his place of work - the Institute of Social Security and Services - and was still wearing his work uniform. His body showed signs of torture and indications that he had been stoned to death.

The most shocking part? A sign made out of yellow cardboard that was left on the body that read "This is what happens to me for going around infecting people with AIDS."

When I first wrote about this murder on February 25th, I chided mexican newspaper La Cronica de Hoy for their speculative headline ("For spreading AIDS, an employee of ISSSTE is executed in Acapulco") and also wrote the following:

Though I can't assume that the man was gay, the language in the note is striking because it is the same language that the extreme right in Latin America uses against the gay community when blaming it for the general ills of a society (as do homophobic extreme right wing bigots in the United States). It wouldn't surprise me at all if this turns out to be a hate crime against a gay man although I doubt there'll be much follow-up.

My hunch was right.

On Feb. 26th, Mexican LGBT web portal Anodis.com published a follow up story that revealed a few more details.

1. There was one additional message written on the cardboard sign that read "This is what happens to me for having infected my son with AIDS."

2. According to the Anodis.com article, the man was HIV positive and gay and held an administrative post at the clinic where he worked.

3. Several LGBT rights and HIV-prevention organizations such as the Guerrero State Gay Association Against AIDS, Catholics fof the Right to Chose, Living with Chilpancingo and the Democratic Network and Sexuality are demanding a full investigation as well as passage of a hate crimes bill.

I expressed doubt that the crime would be resolved so I am glad that Anodis.com has followed up and that these organizations are putting pressure on the Guerrero State government to find the murderers and take them to justice.

Mexico: Man stoned to death, blamed for "infecting people with AIDS"

Two reports over the weekend about a horrible murder in Acapulco, Mexico.

On Friday La Cronica de Hoy reported that the body of a man later identified as 48 year old Alejandro Fuentes Mejía was found abandoned on a dirt road near a hospital where he was employed. The man, who was still wearing an Institute of Social Security and Services (ISSSTE) uniform, was last seen at work on Wednesday.

Forensic authorities reported that the body showed trauma to the head, signs of torture and indications that he had been beaten to death. He was identified by family.

Today's Novedades de Acapulco says that the man was beaten with rocks and asphyxiated. The body was found with his hands tied behind his back.

Unfortunately, violent deaths are not an exception in Mexico but what caught my attention about this particular murder was the sign that was found on top of Mr. Mejía's body.

La Cronica says letter written in black ink on a piece of yellow cardboard read: "This is what happens to me for going around infecting people with AIDS" [Eso me pasa por andar infectando de sida a la gente].

Irresponsibly, La Cronica's headline reads "For spreading AIDS, an employee of ISSSTE is executed in Acapulco."

I assume they are going by the sign found laying on the man's body as described in the police report and that they have yet to establish whether the man was HIV positive, much less "spreading" the illness.

In addition, though I can't assume that the man was gay, the language in the note is striking because it is the same language that the extreme right in Latin America uses against the gay community when blaming it for the general ills of a society (as do homophobic extreme right wing bigots in the United States).

It wouldn't surprise me at all if this turns out to be a hate crime against a gay man although I doubt there'll be much follow-up.

The Democratic presidential candidates on the death of Lawrence King

NOTE: MEMORIAL SITE FOR LAWRENCE KING HERE

If you have been reading some of the other LGBT news blogs or any gay media you probably have read about the tragic death of Lawrence King (pictured) on Tuesday, February 12th in Oxnard, California.

King, who was only 15 years of age, was shot to death by a 14 year old classmate at the E.O. Green Junior High School aparently as a result of anti-gay sentiments brought up by King's incresed openness about his sexuality and his willingness to dress in ways that challenged perceptions of gender (it makes me wonder about the sort of environment in which the teen that shot King was brought up).

The Los Angeles Times has followed the story with incredibly moving pieces (here, here and here) with the New York Times finally devoting some extensive coverage earlier today (San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter has also had extensive coverage).

Personally, I have been following the developments and wondering if the presidential candidates might speak to this terrible killing.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama released the following statements within the last 24 hours:

BARACK OBAMA:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2008
Contact: Obama Press Office; (312) 819-2423

Statement on the Death of Lawrence King

Chicago, IL – Barack Obama today released the following statement on the death of Lawrence King.

“It was heartbreaking to learn about Lawrence King’s death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. King’s senseless death is a tragic example of the corrosive effect that bigotry and fear can have in our society. It’s also an urgent reminder that we need to do more in our schools to foster tolerance and an acceptance of diversity; that we must enact a federal hate crimes law that protects all LGBT Americans; and that we must recommit ourselves to becoming active and engaged parents, citizens and neighbors, so that bias and bigotry cannot take hold in the first place. We all have a responsibility to help this nation live up to its founding promise of equality for all. “

---

HILLARY CLINTON:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2008

Contact: Press Office, 703-875-1271
press@hillaryclinton.com

Statement From Hillary Clinton
On The Memorials For Lawrence King

“I was deeply saddened by the recent death of 15-year-old Lawrence King who was killed at his school in Oxnard, CA. No one should face intimidation or violence, particularly at school, because of their sexual orientation or the way they express their gender identity.

“We must finally enact a federal hate crimes law to ensure that gay, lesbian and transgender Americans are protected against violent, bias-motivated crimes. We must send a unified message that hate-based crime will not be tolerated.”

Updates: Sentences in Sandy murder, Cuban LGBT org defines purpose, political asylum news

Sentencing reached in murder of gay black man: In a case that we have followed in the past, three men have received sentences for their involvement in the death of Michael J. Sandy, a young man who was lured to an empty parking lot near a secluded Brooklyn beach and was killed when he tried to escape his attackers.

The New York Times says that the comlpex divergence in sentencing reflected "a confounding set of circumstances" while Gay City News points out that the ringleader could get out of jail in "as little as six years." A fourth man was previously sentenced last year when he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the prosecution.

Nascent Cuban LGBT rights organization defines its purpose: In October we wrote of the birth of a gay rights organization in Cuba. Today, Bitacora Cubana says that the Cuban Movement for Homosexual Liberation met on Saturday to define its purpose and agreed to demand "legalization for sex-change surgeries and [the right] to change names; the court's recognition of same-sex couples; adoption rights and the recognition of matrimony and inheritance rights for LGBT individuals."

Political asylum: In political asylum news Arthur S. Leonard tells us of a brand new case in which a gay man who was born in Portugal but lived most of his life in Venezuela was denied asylum in the United States in a decision released by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals on November 6th.

A key reason for the denial? The fact that the asylum seeker had entered the United States on various occasions and had returned to Venezuela without apparent fear of persecution - until he filed for asylum.

In the meantime Ven Messam (pictured above in a Wockner News Photo), a Jamaican gay man, was recently granted asylum thanks to the work of Columbia University's Law School students whose department provides pro-bono assistance as a way to provide hands-on experience for students. Lucky are those asylum applicants that receive such assistance.

A Jamaican lesbian was not as fortunate when she sought political asylum in the United Kingdom. The court's response? "Try not to act gay."

Tidbits: Michael J. Sandy, HIV & Latinos, Montel Williams, alien invasion

A few tidbits:

• Both Gay City News (here) and The New York Times (here) have stunning news from the Michael J. Sandy murder trial: One of the accused defendants says he is also gay in a trial that prosecutors have tagged as a hate crime against a gay man.
• Mike Lavers looks at the 9/11 announcement from the New York City Department of Health on the increasing HIV transmission rate among black and Latino "men who have sex with men" in New York.
• My friend Pauline Park (pictured above when we were both Heritage of Pride parade judges in 2004) will be on "The Montel Williams Show" this Thursday. This is what she has to say about the show:

The segment will include Susan Stanton's first television interview since she transitioned and was fired as city manager of Largo (a small city in Florida near Tampa). The show will also feature an interview with the father of a Duke University student who was informed that a transgendered woman would be moving into her dormitory on campus. The hour-long segment will conclude with an interview with a 12-year-old girl who was born male and a 26-year-old transman who recently began transitioning from female and with the mothers of both individuals.

I was invited to comment as a 'guest expert' sitting in the front row of the audience, and while I have not seen the edited version of the show that will be airing on Thursday, I thought Montel handled the interviews with sensitivity. The show airs from 1-2 p.m. on Channel 9 in New York City; check your local listings for air times in other cities.

It might all be a moot point though because, as few people know, the pod people might are already here: Disturbing news from Perú (h/t Towleroad)

Last night's vigil...

From last night's vigil: Top - The parents of Edgar Garzon lead a crowd in a vigil in their son's memory; 3rd picture down - Armando Garzon, Eddie's father, lights a candle in front of a make-shift memorial; Bottom - 37th Avenue and 77th Street will be renamed :Edgar Garzon Corner" at a public ceremony later this month. Additional photos here.

I was a bit surprised by the turn out at last night's vigil in honor of Eddie Garzon considering the late notice and the fact that it happened on the Tuesday right after labor day weekend. Initially about 15 to 20 people gathered on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 80th Street but by the time Eddie's parents showed up some of them had already left. No matter because they were replaced by others and at the end I counted 30 to 40 people. Among them were old friends of Eddie's, a couple of political figures and some who didn't seem connected other than by having read about of the vigil somewhere else.

Whether it was because there seemed to be separate groups or because some weren't sure what was going on or because Eddie's parents did not show up until 8pm or so, everyone seemed to be aimless and at a loss of what to do.

Personally I was feeling a bit awkward for some reason, so - while I guess I could have easily stepped in and take the lead - I just wanted to take a step back this time around. So I was glad when the Garzons appeared with local District Leader Francisco Moya at their side.

Among the other community and political leaders that showed up were New York State Assemblymember Ivan Lafayette and future District Leader (and friend) Alfonso Quiroz. Marlene Forero, who used to be one of Eddie's closest friends and is now a Board Member of the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA) as a straight ally, brought some of her friends (they have always been there year after year) and other COLEGA members such as Jose Cruz and Juan Carlos Sandoval (and his partner Julio) also showed up. Yoselli Castillo showed up in representation of the Dominican group GALDE.

When I spoke to Leonor Garzon yesterday morning she was a little nervous about how to lead a vigil, the potential number of people that might show up and whether someone would be able to translate for her if there were a lot of people who only spoke English. I said that I'd translate for her if need be, that she only had to worry about the crowd if more than fifty people showed up and, even then, I was sure the local police precinct would take care of it (she had already invited officers from the 115th precinct in Queens to show up).

But once the Garzons showed up, there was no need to worry as everything ran somewhat smoothly. Slowly everyone marched along the same path we took during that 1st vigil, from the Cositas Ricas restaurant, going by Friend's Tavern, turning right on 77th Street and crossing 37th Road and 37th Avenue to the place where Eddie had fallen, his skull fractured, his blood staining the sidewalk.

During the walk, Leonor asked me once again to translate once we got there and to maybe talk about my memories of Eddie. How could I have said no?

The Reverend John Azzali began by offering a prayer and asking for a minute of silence. I then spoke of the day that we marched down the 5th Avenue Heritage of Pride march with the jaw-dropping float that Eddie had designed for COLEGA, a horse with coffee sacs reading "100% Colombian coffee/100% gay Colombian," Colombian folk dancers dressed up like coffee-cups (one of the dancers was at the vigil last night as well).

Leonor then addressed those gathered around a make-shift memorial - signs and photos posted and tied up around the trunk of the tree that was closest to where Eddie had fallen, candles set on the sidewalk illuminating the images - and was at turns mournful, sad, angry and defiant.

She spoke of her son and his friends, of how the unity of the Garzon family had been shattered by Eddie's death and of coming to the United States to make sure that justice was done. Mrs. Garzon also spoke of the recent trial that ended in a hung jury verdict and of how difficult it had been to take the witness stand to talk about her son's life, of how difficult it was going to be to face a jury again come this Fall when the case was brought to court again, and of hoping that it would be the last time she would have to testify about her son to a jury, that the next time there'd be justice.

She also said that she was surprised that there were so few representatives from gay organizations. She said that she knew her son was gay, had been proud to be gay and had lived an openly gay life in the United States, and how it was hard for her to comprehend how a lot of the gay leaders in the city were not there last night. She urged the gay community to remember their own, to support their own, to make sure that justice would come in the future when it came to her son.

Finally she made special mention of those who had shown up and, in particular, Marlene Forero and those who used to know Eddie years ago; the political leaders that showed up ("for them, not all is politics," she said, "sometimes they also show they have a heart"); Father John Azzali; and the homicide unit of the New York Police Department as well as the detectives and officers at the 115th Precinct who were instrumental in capturing suspect John McGhee when all traces seemed to have expired. She specifically thanked Detective Daniel Corey who was unable to be there last night.

Armando, Eddie's stoic dad, then spoke and nearly broke my heart. He was brief but full of emotion as he told the crowd that someone had taken away half his heart by killing his son. How he didn't know whether to be grateful that Eddie was now gone and perhaps at a better place than any of us but of how much it still hurt and how much he missed his son.

I hope I did them justice in translating their words. It's difficult to translate other people's words when there is so much emotion and tragedy behind them.

I was approached by the new commander at the 115th precinct and I thanked her and the many officers that showed up last night for being there. I laughed and told her that I might have criticized the 115th precinct in the past but that they deserved the warm thank-yous that the Garzon's had given them last night.

People mulled around and signed a memorial book. When most of the people had drifted away as well as most of the security detail I found myself talking to a young police officer who arrived late and remained behind as everyone else left. He wanted to know more, saying he'd been shocked to find out a man had been attacked on that street - which he considered among Jackson Heights' safest. So I told him the story and spoke about the gay community in Queens, the gay nightlife and how I didn't necessarily feel that it was a dangerous place to be gay. "Yeah," he said, "to be perfectly truthful, as a police officer I've always thought that the gay bars are safer and seem to have a funner atmosphere than the straight bars in Queens; I always see trouble there but not at the gay bars."

A small conversation after a mournful vigil that for some reason mad me love my neighborhood even more and seemed an appropriate end to yet another year in which a few of us came together to remember Eddie.

A memorial mass is planned for this Thursday, September 6th at the Our Lady of Fatima Church at 25-56 80th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens. Also later this month, the corner of 77th Street and 37th Avenue will be renamed the "Edgar Garzon Corner" in a public ceremony. A specific date has yet to be determined.

In the meantime, Terrance has offered this perspective and reading someone else's thoughts, for some reason, finally brought the full emotions home.