Second Annual Billy Jack Gaither Humanitarian Award
Second Annual Billy Jack Gaither Humanitarian Award
Sunday, February 15, 2008
Vickie Saltsman, Billy Jack Gaither's Sister
Montgomery, AL: Ten years after the brutal slaying of 39-year-old Alabamian Billy Jack Gaither, the award bearing his name was presented by Equality Alabama to activist George Olsson. Hundreds of supporters gathered at the capital steps in Montgomery for the Vigil for Victims of Hate and Violence. Vickie Saltsman, Billy Jack’s elder sister, spoke of the love all her family have for their brother, who was murdered in 1999 for being a gay man: “Not a day goes by without our thinking of him,” she said.
Talana Kreeger
Talana Kreeger
September 25, 1957—February 22, 1990
Wilmington, NC
“In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast.
Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis.“
~ Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant
Law enforcement told leaders of the Wilmington, NC LGBT community that it would not be in their interest to be too visible in the days following the murder of Talana Quay Kreeger by manual disembowelment. Fearing reprisals, a quiet funeral was planned for Talana at a church in nearby Ogden. Forbidden to post signs directing mourners to the church, organizers tied bunches of white balloons along the route up Market Street, leading out of town.
At the last minute, the service was called off in Ogden. Somebody had gotten to the pastor, and explained that Talana was a lesbian. Wilmington Police stopped the procession of cars, and told them to turn around. Scrambling to find any place for the better than 200 grief-stricken, frustrated mourners, someone contacted a sympathetic Episcopal priest in downtown Wilmington who opened his church for the memorial service.
Talana, 32, was well known and well regarded in the closely-knit lesbian and gay community. She was a skilled journeyman carpenter, and had volunteered her time to remodel the Park View Bar and Grill, a haven for coastal Carolina lesbians. Her murder by long haul trucker, Ronald Thomas, terrorized and enraged the entire LGBT population of New Hanover County. Talana’s gruesome death caused Eastern North Carolina queer folk to find their voices. They vowed never again to have to rely on straight people to lend them a church for the funeral of one of their own.
The result of that vow is St. Jude’s Metropolitan Community Church, www.stjudesmcc.org , a thriving congregation founded the year after Talana’s murder as a testimony to LGBT faith and resolve. Independent filmmaker, Tab Ballis, is documenting the story of Talana Kreeger with the film, “Park View,” www.parkviewproject.com. Few other LGBT hate crimes murder victims, if any, have not only a film dedicated to their memory, but also have a church that exists today as a living reminder that hatred does not have the last word. Rest well, sister. Time was on your side after all. You did not die in vain. We will not forget.
José Sucuzhañay dead after Brooklyn hate crime attack
José O. Sucuzhañay
31-year-old real estate broker José O. Sucuzhañay died on Friday, December 12th, after spending five days on a ventilator in a brain-dead condition.
Sucuzhañay and his brother Romel were walking home arm-in-arm after a night of drinking in a Brooklyn bar when three assailants attacked the brothers, having mistaken them as gay. The attackers emerged from a maroon SUV, yelling, “Check out those faggots over there.” The attackers also shouted racial epithets. Witnesses said the murderers first smashed a bottle over Sucuzhañay’s head and then struck him in the head with an aluminum baseball bat.
Gay City News describes the attack this way:
According to police, one assailant broke the bottle over Sucuzhanay’s head. After the victim fell to the ground, another of the attackers began beating him with the bat. Romel Sucuzhanay managed to flee from the path of the first assailant who chased after him with the broken beer bottle. He finally prevailed on the men to stop beating his brother when he showed them that he had a cellphone to use to call police.
Sucuzhañay’s mother was still on her way from Ecuador when José died at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. The family had hoped to keep their brother alive on life support long enough for their mother to arrive and say good-bye to her son.
A third brother, Diego Sucuzhañay, calls his brother’s death “a loss beyond words.”
Sources:
Gay City News: “Hate Crime Victim Brain-Dead”
Box Turtle Bulletin: “Capital Crime: Appearing Gay”
Newsday: “Immigrant dead in possible hate crime”
Box Turtle Bulletin: “Brooklyn Hate Crime Victim Dies”
Advocacy group calls for investigation of transgender woman’s murder
Lateisha Green
The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) is urging the Syracuse (New York) Police Department and Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office to investigate the likely hate crime motivation in the murder of Lateisha Green, a 22-year-old African American transgender woman.
On the evening of November 14, Green and her brother, Mark Cannon, were sitting in a car preparing to leave a party when they were shot with a .22 caliber rifle. A single bullet grazed Cannon’s arm and then penetrated Green’s chest, severing her aorta.
According to Chief of Police Gary Miguel, the murder suspect, 20-year-old Dwight DeLee, retrieved the .22 caliber rifle when he heard other people at the party “making profane and vulgar comments in regards to the sexual preference” of Green and her brother. “Our suspect took a rifle and shot and killed this person, also wounding his brother, for the sole reason he didn’t care for the sexual preference of our victim,” says Miguel.
“Transgender people face discrimination and violence in communities across the country,” says TLDEF executive director Michael Silverman. “Lateisha’s senseless death demonstrates the increased risk of violence transgender people face.”
Gary Miguel adds, “Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that a sad situation that that’s the sole reason why?”
Sources:
“Syracuse Trans Murder Called Hate Crime.”
“Transgender Advocacy Group Calls Upon Authorities to Fully Investigate Transgender Woman’s Death”
“Local transsexual’s death draws state Human Rights officials to Syracuse”
NCAVP warns of national increase in anti-transgender violence
One day before the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a new NCAVP press release warns about a nationwide increase in severe violence perpetrated against transgender persons.
New York – As the Transgender Day of Remembrance approaches, a day when victims of anti-transgender bias are mourned around the globe, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has documented increases in severe violence directed at transgender communities across the country, especially against transgender women of color.
- Latiesha Green, 22, was shot on November 14 in Syracuse, New York.
- Duanna Johnson, 43, was shot in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 8.
- Aimee Wilcoxson, 34, was found dead in her apartment on November 3 in Aurora, Colorado, just outside of Denver.
Some of these brutal acts of violence occurred in the same communities that continue to mourn the murders of two transgender people of color earlier this year: Ebony Whitaker, 20, murdered in June also in Tennessee and Angie Zapata, 18, murdered in July also in Colorado.
Organizations such as International Transgender Day of Remembrance and Remembering Our Dead that have helped to initiate Transgender Day of Remembrance (held this year on November 20) also track anti-trans murders. They documented 29 anti-trans murders in 2008, a 65% increase over 2007.
NCAVP wishes to express our sadness and outrage about this ongoing, horrific violence. We stand in solidarity with transgender communities in Tennessee, Syracuse, and Colorado, the victims and survivors, and their loved ones.
Mixed Criminal / Legal System Responses
Memphis
Ms. Johnson’s murder comes on the heels of Memphis Police Department’s brutal beating of Ms. Johnson in February 2008. The following Police security camera footage of the beating has been widely circulated since June (warning: clip contains disturbing material):
[YouTube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N1Bvlbh_ws”%5D
The Memphis Police Department had been attempting to settle a law suit that Ms. Johnson had filed for the beating she endured while in custody. Former officers Bridges McRae and James Swain were fired only after the video was released, but it is not yet clear whether or not any criminal charges will be filed.
Local community members have speculated that anti-trans bias is likely a factor, not only in the beating itself but in the lack of criminal charges being filed. “This is not the first time the Shelby County District Attorney’s office has shown indifference to brutality against transgender people,” observed Dr. Marisa Richmond, the President of Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition. “When Tiffany Berry was murdered in 2006, her alleged perpetrator, D’Andre Blake, was released on only $20,000 bond.” Dr. Richmond noted that people charged with murder in Tennessee typically get a $100,000 bond.
The FBI is now assisting in the investigation of Ms. Johnson’s murder. NCAVP calls upon the FBI to bring its full resources to in the investigation of not only Ms. Johnson’s murder but also Ms. Ebony Whitaker’s. NCAVP also demands that District Attorney Gibbons bring appropriate charges against former officers McRae and Swain.
Aurora
In Colorado, the Aurora Sentinel reported that local police have speculated that Ms. Wilcoxson’s death was a suicide. But friends of hers insist that explanation is very unlikely given her life circumstances and also given the condition the body was in when it was discovered. NCAVP is hopeful that local police will conduct a thorough investigation that takes into account these statements from people who knew her.
Syracuse
In Syracuse, Sage Upstate and other local community members report that Syracuse City Police Department Chief Gary Miguel has responded to this crime with sensitivity. The family of Latiesha ‘Tiesh’ Green and LGBT advocates in the Syracuse community are hopeful that the Onondaga County District Attorney’s office will be able to include hate crime charges in the prosecution of this case.
NCAVP commends district attorneys and police who identify and appropriately categorize hate-motivated violence. We are hopeful that district attorneys and law enforcement in other jurisdictions will follow suit and NCAVP will continue to monitor the violence against transgender communities, as well as the police response.
Transgender and gender non-conforming people experience violence and harassment everyday and most of it never makes headlines. NCAVP encourages LGBT people experiencing any form of hate violence, harassment, vandalism, or bullying to contact NCAVP or one of our member programs by calling 212.714.1184 or emailing us at info@ncavp.org.
Gay man murdered and dismembered in Dallas
Richard Hernandez
According to a September article published in the Dallas Voice, gay man Richard Hernandez was murdered in his Dallas apartment and then dismembered in the bathtub. After Hernandez failed to appear at his job, worried co-workers called the police. The police went to Hernandez’s apartment to investigate, and found large amounts of blood in the living room and tissue from the victim’s internal organs in the bathtub.
Purchases made on Hernandez’s credit card led police to a suspect, Seth Lawton Winder, who was then charged with credit card fraud and capital murder. Seth’s father, Robert Winder, has pointed to his son’s schizophrenic history as a possible explanation for the crime, but police have also recovered a digital camera containing images of the suspect inside the victim’s apartment which might suggest a different theory about why the murder occurred.
Friends of the victim say Hernandez was a valued friend. “Rich was probably one of the most sincere, sweet people you will ever meet,” says one friend. “Rich always had a smile and would drop anything to help anybody, and it’s very, very sad what happened to him. It’s a very gruesome, horrible thing to happen to someone so sweet and so generous.”
Richard Hernandez was 38-years-old.
North Carolina arson case is a hate crime
An EDGE Boston article tells the story of Melvin Whistlehunt, whose house was burned down as part of an anti-LGBT hate crime.
On November 7, Whistlehunt received an urgent call at work warning him his house was burning. When firefighters arrived, they discovered signs of arson and an anti-gay slogan spray-painted on the brick of the home. The conflagration reached such severity that 28 firefighters and seven trucks were needed to bring the fire into control.
None of Whistlehunt’s property survived the blaze.
Additional information is available in this article at the Observer News Enterprise of Newton, North Carolina.
Two elderly gay men found slain in their Indiana home
An EDGE Boston article describes circumstances surrounding the deaths of two elderly gay men who shared a home in southwest Indianapolis. According to the article, “70-year-old Milton Lindgren and 73-year-old Eric Hendricks had been harassed prior to their deaths… with their phone and cable lines having been cut and a note containing an anti-gay epithet having been left on their door.”
The bodies were discovered by friends, Michael Brown and Kevin Tetrick, who had not heard from Lindgren or Hendricks for more than a week.
A WRTV Channel 6 report says police would not reveal how the two elderly men were killed or how long their bodies had been inside the home, only that their deaths came by “violent means.” An article in the IndyStar elaborates, saying the couple’s friends found an open window at the rear of the house and detected a strong smell coming from inside. Climbing through the window, one of the friends found Lindgren’s blood-covered body in one bedroom and Hendricks’ in another.
The WRTV report adds, “Police reports show that the men had their phone and cable lines cut twice in the past few months, and that anti-gay statements were posted on their front door. Investigators said that while they do believe the vandalism was related to Lindgren and Hendricks being gay, that they didn’t know if their killings were.”
Patrick Beard, another friend of the slain couple, said, “I firmly believe it was definitely a hate crime. Milt was 70 and his partner was 73 and to go into someone’s home and do something like that, it’s just too coincidental.” Beard’s son, Lee, added, “I’m not a genius, but if someone’s being harassed like that and fagot gets stamped on their door on a piece of paper, it’s not that hard to connect the dots two months later that these two people are brutally killed in their home.”
Hendricks, who was ill at the time he was attacked, had been confined to a wheelchair.
Additional information about this story, including commentary about Indiana’s hate crime laws, can be found at Advance Indiana.
Update: Police are now seeking Michael Brown, one of the friends who was at Hendricks’s and Lindgren’s murder site when police were originally called to investigate. “Mr. Brown was at the scene at the time officers were called to investigate what happened at the house,” said Indianapolis police Sgt. Paul Thompson. “He was one of the two individuals inside that stated the two individuals inside had not been seen or heard from in a while. Investigators did interview him initially, however, they have reason to interview him again.” Source: A report filed by WRTV Channel 6 in Indianapolis.
Pattern of severe of anti-LGBT violence increases nationwide
The Hate Crimes Bill has provided an excellent summary of a new report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs showing anti-LGBT violence has been on the rise since the murder of Lawrence “Larry” King in Oxnard, California, at the beginning of this year.
“The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) reports a recent rash of at least 13 brutal and violent hate crimes that have occurred throughout the country on the heels of the murder of 15 year-old Lawrence King in Los Angeles and the brutal beating of Duanna Johnson, both in February of 2008,” says the Hate Crimes Bill’s website. “NCAVP reports that these hate crimes may indicate a frightening trend of increases in both the number and severity of anti-LGBT violence.”
The NCAVP findings come after several anti-LGBT hate crimes, including the police beating of a transgender woman in Memphis, Tennessee; the harassment and beating of a gay man on a New York subway; the murder of a transgender woman in Memphis, Tennessee; the alleged police beating of a gay man in Greeley, Colorado; the beating of a priest in Queens, New York, for protecting a group of LGBT youth living at a shelter for homeless youth; the midnight home-invasion and arson, in Central New York, by a self-proclaimed Neo-Nazi, who targeted a sleeping 65-year-old gay man (the victim was able to flee the home, unhurt); the fatal bludgeoning of 18-year-old Angie Zapata, a transgender Latina woman in Greeley, Colorado; the beating of gay man Jimmy Lee Dean, in Dallas, Texas, whose injuries were so severe that he was in intensive care and could not be interviewed or identified until five days after the crime; the severe injury of a man in upstate New York, whose two assailants beat, kicked, and shouted anti-gay slurs until they had broken ten bones in their victim’s face; the attack against an 18-year-old living in St Helens, in the United Kingdom, who died a week later from his injuries; the (at least partially) anti-gay-motivated shooting rampage in a Knoxville, Tennessee, church that claimed two lives and wounded seven others; the mob-beating and stabbing of a man perceived to be gay in Staten Island, New York; the ongoing and escalating harassment (for nearly 8 years) of a gay male couple living in Cleveland, Ohio, by anti-gay neighbors; and the ongoing and escalating harassment (for nearly 20 years) of a gay male couple living in a rural Pennsylvania town, who have suffered incidents of gunfire, vandalism, stalking, acts of intimidation, and the indifference from local police.
In a grim coincidence, more than one anti-LGBT hate crime has occurred in both Memphis, Tennessee, and Greeley, Colorado, since the beginning of 2008.
Unfinished Lives also offers our own analysis of the significance of anti-LGBT hate-crime statistics in the United States. The NCAVP’s findings and the Hate Crimes Bill’s detailed summary confirm what has been a growing concern for LGBT persons living in the United States.
Justin “Angie” Zapata murdered in Colorado hate crime
Teenager Justin “Angie” Zapata was found dead in her Greeley, Colorado, apartment on July 17, the apparent victim of an anti-LGBT hate crime. Zapata, who was 18 years old, sustained wounds to the head and face with a fire extinguisher.
Kelly Costello, director of victim services at the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, served as Zapata’s family’s spokesperson and said this is not the first time transgendered persons have been targeted by violent crimes in Colorado. “It’s frightening but not necessarily surprising,” Costello said. “It does send out a ripple effect and lets everyone know how vulnerable they are.” Costello’s remarks appeared in a Denver Post article on July 25.
According to a July 31 Associated Press article, Zapata’s killer, 20-year-old Allen Ray Andrade, made remarks showing he did not afford his victim the status of a full human being. While speaking to investigators about his involvement in the hate crime, Andrade referred to Zapata as an “it”. Andrade said that after hitting his victim twice in the head with a fire extinguisher, he thought he had “killed it.”
Responding to the suspect’s remarks, Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said he felt disgusted by the comment. “It’s a horrible thing to say.”
After reading about her sister’s killer, Monica Murguia, told Denver’s KDVR-TV that Andrade deserved to remain behind bars forever. “He took a part of our heart, he did, when he killed her.”
About
If you are a first-time visitor to the Unfinished Lives Project website, we invite you to read A Welcome Message introducing you to our project. We are truly grateful for your visit.
The Unfinished Lives Project website is a place of public discourse which remembers and honors LGBTQ hate crime victims, while also revealing the reality of unseen violence perpetrated against people whose only “offense” is their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. LGBTQ people in the United States are suffering a slow-rolling decimation of terror and murder all across the country. Every locale and demographic of society are affected: First Nations, Anglo, Black, Latino and Latina, South and Southeast Asian, Transgender, Bisexuals, Gay men, Lesbians, disabled, young, and mature. Homophobia has a long, crooked arm, and it is reaching out to snatch the life away from women and men whose tragic stories are under-reported to begin with, and whose memories are swiftly forgotten.
The horror of these killings transcends the shock and bereavement of loved ones and friends. These are not typical homicides; they are not killings for money or drugs, incidents of domestic strife, or crimes of passion. The vicious nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is extremely brutal, grotesquely violent, and egregiously hateful.
Each murder serves the LGBTQ population as a sobering warning about the actual level of danger in our communities. The message these killings send is that freedom and open life for LGBTQ people is a cruel dream. Every time we remember one of these victims, however, the intentions of their killers are frustrated. To remember these women and men is to begin the process of changing the culture that killed them.
Our Project Director
Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle (Keith Tew photo).
Stephen V. Sprinkle is Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry, and Professor of Practical Theology at Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas, a post he has held since 1994. An ordained Baptist minister, he is the first open and out Gay scholar in the history of the Divinity School, and the first open and out LGBTQ person to be tenured there. Read More…
Recent Social Justice Advocacy Activity By Dr. Sprinkle
Summer 2009 – Dr. Sprinkle responded to the Fort Worth Police Department and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, Fort Worth’s newest gay bar, on June 28, 2009, the exact 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Dr. Sprinkle was invited to speak at three protest events sponsored by Queer LiberAction of Dallas. Here, he is keynoting the Rainbow Lounge Protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse on July 12, 2009. Read More…
Contact Us
Communicate with the Unfinished Lives project team:
info@unfinishedlivesblog.com
Schedule a Presentation
Dr. Sprinkle will gladly present his acclaimed presentation to your organization. To arrange an Unfinished Lives presentation for your organization or group, please contact us.
Dr. Sprinkle has given his Unfinished Lives presentation to these and other community groups and organizations. Read More…
-
Where are our readers?
Publisher: Steve Sprinkle (Project Director)
Steve Sprinkle
Unfinished Lives: Remembering LGBT Hate Crime VictimsBrite Divinity School/Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth TXprofessor, minister, author, blogger, LGBTQ advocate
Follow Unfinished Lives on Facebook
Box Turtle Bulletin- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- HRC Back Story
- Know About The Gender Identity Movement
- Why Is There A Need For Human Rights?
- Kinds Of Human Rights
- Human Rights Purposes And Violations
- Human Rights For Every Human Incident
- 8 Reasons Human Rights Are Important
- Everything About Human Rights
- Human Rights Issues Education & Law
- We Need To Stand Up For Our Rights And Those Of Others
- Coca-Cola Receives Perfect Score On Human Rights
- The Advocate: Daily News
- ACT UP marks 39th anniversary with NYC die-in at Palantir over Trump administration contracts
- Graham Platner abruptly cancels campaign fundraiser at New York City gay bar
- Record-breaking ‘No Kings’ protests expected as nationwide marches near
- A 7-year-old fought for drag queens. When she got sick, they helped her sing again
- Mormons remind trans members they aren’t welcome at temple rituals until detransition
- Heated Rivalry's success may reignite LGBTQ+ publishing
- Trump claims Democrats want to ‘change the sex of your kid’ during tarmac rant
- Advocate newsletter 3/23/26
- Trump says ‘no masks’ for ICE agents at U.S. airports
- Treasury secretary urges ‘a little empathy’ for Trump, who delighted in Robert Mueller’s death
- Dallas Voice: Instant Tea
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Unfinished Lives 