Cleveland Pride

source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2397832/hate_crime_gay_puerto_rican_teen_george.html
By Rose Ellen

According to CNN iReport 19 year old gay Puerto Rican teen, George Steven Lopez Mercado, was found on November 14, 2009 burned, dismembered and decapitated. Mercados arms, legs and head had been torn off before the body was dumped. Active and known in the gay community of Puerto Rico, Mercado was a victim of a brutal, disgusting and torturous hate crime. His body was left a few miles out of his home town in Caguas, literally torn limb from limb.

This grotesque crime is made worse by the response of the police. The police investigator responded to questions concerning the murder of George Steven Lopez Mercado that “people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen.” The police investigator, when making a public statement, has the power to affect the community. By choosing to warn the gays in Puerto Rico instead of the murderers he is colluding with the murderers. He had the power to reinforce that these actions were illegal and justice would be served in this torture and murder hate crime case. He instead chose to warn other gays in Puerto Rico that this should be expected as though citizens who are gay are not protected under the law.

According to the Towleroad translation of local news, some Puerto Ricans are demanding that the police investigator be replaced because he is prejudiced in this case. Those requests are being made to Superintendent Figueroa Sancha.

Puerto Rico has a conservative religious climate, being strongly influenced by Roman Catholicism and socially conservative protestantism. Puerto Rico is also a United States territory. As a result the brutal murder of George Steven Lopez Mercado is a hate crime under the hate crime legislation signed into law by President Barak Obama of the United States. To date no murder has yet been classified as a hate crime in Puerto Rico. Homosexuality in Puerto Rico is not illegal and George Steven Lopez Mercado deserves as much protection under the law as any other Puerto Rican citizen.

Hate crimes differ from regular crimes in intent. When someone commits a hate crime it is not simply a personal attack. A hate crime is done for the purpose of breaking the spirit of a group of people. The police investigator confirmed that this was a hate crime in his statement that these things will happen to people who lead the gay lifestyle. By ripping off someones arms, legs, and head the murderers symbolically attempted to separate George Steven Lopez Mercado from his humanity. In pieces a person seems less human and less important. The world will remember George Steven Lopez Mercado as he was, an innocent Puerto Rican citizen who lived a lifestyle that was legal and consistent within himself.

Hate crimes are not new to the gay community around the world. No matter what one’s views on homosexuality, citizens attacking other citizens on the basis of a personal characteristic is unacceptable. I have had several of my friends attacked because they were gay or their gender representation was not what the attacker thought was appropriate. It is not appropriate for citizens to take legal matters into their own hands by causing harm to other citizens. These hate crimes must be addressed as such.

George Steven Lopez Mercado was well known in the gay community of Puerto Rico. There has been a huge response in the Puerto Rican gay community. He was loved and will be missed by his friends.

Sources:

Christopher Pagan, Brutal Hate Crime Murder in PR Not Being Covered, CNN iReport

Andy Towle, Gay Puerto Rican Teen Decapitated, Dismembered and Burned, Towleroad

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.