On Memorial Day, We Honor the Military Service of Our Gay Dead
Since time immemorial, Gay and Lesbian people have served their country with distinction. LGBT Americans pause to remember and honor the service and sacrifice of all American service members, especially the ones who faced battle on two fronts: the battle for freedom and security for our country, and the battle against unreasoning homophobia. This Memorial Day, The Unfinished Lives Project pauses to give thanks for the lives of three gay men who served their country, and died because their countrymen could not accept their sexual orientation: Petty Officer Third Class Allen R. Schindler, Jr., Chicago Heights, IL, sailor on the U.S.S. Belleau Wood; Private First Class Barry Winchell, Kansas City, MO, soldier at Fort Campbell, KY; and U.S. Army Veteran Michael Scott Goucher of East Stroudsburg, PA.
Schindler, who was mercilessly harassed on board his ship, was murdered in 1992 by shipmates in a public toilet while on leave in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan. His body was so ravaged by the attack that every major organ in his body was ruptured, his skull was crushed, and the medical examiner found sneaker tracks embedded in his chest and face. The only way his mother could identify her son’s body was by a tattoo he had inked into his upper arm. His main assailant, who openly declared that he was disgusted by homosexuals, said shortly after the murder, “I don’t regret it. I’d do it again. … He deserved it.” The Navy has never been forthcoming about the slaying, and has repeatedly refused to release the report of the Japanese police about the crime. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) was officially enacted soon after Schindler’s murder by President Clinton. SLDN has continued to represent his mother in the courts.
Winchell, who had been singled out for anti-gay ridicule by his barracks mates at Fort Campbell, was bludgeoned to death in 1999 by a fellow soldier wielding a baseball bat at his head and body while he was asleep. Ironically, he was killed after an Independence Day celebration on base. His hate crime murder and trial exposed one of the most notorious cover-ups of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) era. His parents and SLDN contend that the Army betrayed him by violating its own DADT policies, failing to follow the best traditions of the Army in order to shield the chain of command, and exposing other gay soldiers to danger and dishonorable discharge. The anti-gay climate of Fort Campbell was never sufficiently addressed in the wake of Winchell’s killing, and the base commander, General Robert T. Clark, was promoted despite the protests of SLDN and other LGBT advocacy organizations around the country. His killer is serving a life sentence for murder in a federal military prison facility.
Goucher, who had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Army after a tour of duty in Alaska where he served in transport, was ambushed by two young men who stabbed him to death over 45 times according to autopsy records in 2009, arguably the first anti-LGBT hate crime murder victim of the year. After returning to East Stroudsburg, Goucher worked as a high school janitor, captained the Neighborhood Watch in his area, and served as assistant organist at a local church.
These three represent many more loyal Americans who happened to be LGBT and have been stigmatized, drummed out of the service, and in the cases of these faithful guardians of our country, were killed because of deep-seated bias against members of the sexual minority. They neither betrayed their country nor themselves. For that, and for justice-sake, we cannot forget them. At the request of SLDN, Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Network, Chan Lowe drew this provocative tribute to homosexual Americans who have paid the supreme price to wear our nation’s uniform. We offer it for your consideration on this Memorial Day 2009.
Murdered Trans-teen Gwen Araujo Vindicated by CA Appeal Court Ruling
Newark, CA, May 13, 2009 – A California state court of appeal upheld the second degree murder convictions of two young East Bay men for their part in the strangling, beating, and murder of 17 year old male-to-female transgender Latina Gwen Amber Rose Araujo in 2002. Jose Merel and Michael Magidson had appealed their convictions on the grounds that the Alameda County trial judge had not defined the crimes properly to the jury at the time of the original trial in 2005, and that there had not been sufficient evidence for second degree murder convictions. The appeal court ruled 3-0 against the petition of the defendants, who will continue to serve out their 15-year sentences for the grisly murder.
The 2002 Araujo case drew national attention to the plight of transgender people in the United States, especially transgender people of color. Araujo, born biologically male and originally known as Eddie, had transitioned to being female by the time of the assault. After she died, her mother legally changed her name to Gwen as a sign of love and respect. Her killers, who knew her as “Lida” had known her for months, and Gwen believed they were fast friends. Both Merel and Magidson had sex with Araujo orally and anally. According to their defense, she had not revealed her biological identity to them. When her biological maleness was discovered, the defense went on to contend, the men attacked Araujo “in the heat of the moment,” and therefore deserved convictions for a lesser charge of manslaughter instead of murder. The prosecution successfully argued against this version of the “trans-panic defense,” and secured the murder convictions against them. Two other defendants in the case, Jaron Nabors and Jason Cazares pled guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 11 and 6 years respectively. They have not sought to challenge their convictions.
The Araujo case sharpened the national debate on the trans-panic defense. The outcome of the 2002 trial went a long way toward refuting the once widely held notion that trans people somehow brought on attacks against themselves. As Masen Davis, executive director of the Transgender Law Center noted to reporters,the ruling of the court of appeal definitively rejected the claim that the murder of a young woman like Gwen should be reduced to a lesser charge just because she was transgender. “We are thankful that the Court of Appeal saw through this blatant prejudice, and upheld the convictions of Gwen’s killers,” she said.
Angie Zapata’s Murderer Sentenced to 60 More Years
Allen Ray Andrade, Angie Zapata's Convicted Murderer
Denver – the AP reports that Allen Ray Andrade, convicted of murder in the first degree in the Angie Zapata transgender murder case and sentenced to life without parole has been determined to be a “habitual criminal” and sentenced to an additional 60 years in prison. Weld County District Judge Marcello Kopcow ruled on May 8 that the three remaining convictions, for bias-motivated crime, aggravated motor-vehicle theft and identity theft, should carry such a penalty in view of the deliberate criminality with which Andrade committed these offenses.
Angie Zapata, trans-Latina, died violently at 18 years of age
Supporters of federal hate crimes legislation hope that this application of the Colorado hate crimes law will add pressure for the passage of a fully transgender inclusive Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act that is awaiting action in the United States Senate. The House of Representatives has recently passed its own version of the legislation, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, by a large margin. President Obama has publicly stated that he would sign a fully trans-inclusive hate crimes law when it reaches his desk.
Fate of Angie Zapata’s Confessed Murderer Goes to Jury
Allen Ray Andrade, on trial for the Murder of transgender woman Angie Zapata, awaits his verdict in Greeley, CO today. Prosecution goes for first degree murder. Andrade, already confessed to the murder, was deeply homophobic, according to statements from the jail to girlfriends, such as “Gay things must die.”
Justice Coming for Angie Zapata
Angie Zapata, 18, and alleged murderer, Allen Andrade, courtesy of ABC News
Denver, CO: Allen Andrade, 32, told investigators that he bashed Angie Zapata in the head twice with a fire extinguisher. He confessed that he thought he had “killed it” when Zapata roused, and then he clobbered her again, delivering the coup de grace. That was last July. Now he is slated to go on trial for bias-motivated murder in Greeley, CO where he carried out the crime because he found out Zapata, an 18-year-old male-to-female transwoman, was biologically male.
Angie Zapata
Born Justin Zapata, Angie had been living as a woman since the age of 16. She had striking beauty, attracting many admirers, though according to her sister, Monica, her loves ended by her boyfriends going back to biological women. Angie was a gentle, graceful, loving sister, who suspended her life in Fort Lupton, where she was raised, to come to Greeley to help her sister take care of her children. Monica found Angie’s battered corpse in her apartment, covered in a blanket.
For two weeks, investigators sought the killer, and finally arrested Andrade on July 30. He made an initial confession which a judge ruled inadmissible on a technicality. He has been held in jail without bond since his arrest for the murder. While behind bars Andrade made recorded phone calls to girlfriend claiming that when he discovered Zapata’s biological status, he “snapped.” In another conversation, he told his girlfriend that “gay things need to die.” The phone call transcripts and recordings will be admitted in evidence in the trial.
According to the Associated Press, Andrade is going to be the first person prosecuted for a hate crime under the sexual orientation section of Colorado’s hate crimes law. Colorado is one of 11 states to have hate crimes enhancements in their statutes. The comprehensive Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 2, 2009, would allow the FBI and other Federal Agencies to investigate such crimes, and to support the local authorities in carrying out their investigations, as well. Passage of the LLEHCPA remains a critical element of deterring and punishing hate crimes offenders for violence related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
While nothing can bring Angie Zapata back to her family, friends and loved ones, justice for her and for all transgender victims of hate crime violence, which has been so long in coming, may finally be on the horizon. Stay in touch for further developments.
30-Year Sentence for Gay Bashing in Dallas
Jimmy Lee Dean After Near Fatal Assault (courtesy of Dallas Voice)
DallasVoice.com News Editor, John Wright reports that Jonathan Russell Gunther, 32, has been found guilty on March 4 of first-degree felony robbery and sentenced to 30 years for brutally attacking 43-year-old bisexual Jimmy Lee Dean on the night of July 17, 2008. Gunther and Bobby Jack Singleton, 29, both of Garland, Texas, beat and robbed Dean one block off the famous Cedar Springs Strip, the center of LGBT life in the DFW Metroplex. Singleton has yet to be tried for the crime.
The two assailants pistol-whipped Dean with a 9mm Glock handgun, rendering him unconscious, and then repeatedly kicked him in the head and body as he lay on the pavement. Their attack could have proved fatal, were it not for the intervention of Michael Robinson, a gay man who witnessed the crime in progress and called for help. Dean’s face is severely disfigured, he has lost his sense of smell, and suffers bouts of depression as a result of the incident. His eyelid still droops after two surgeries and may not be repairable. Before the sentencing, Dean spoke out about the crime, “I have never and could never see a reason to beat someone nearly to death just to have a good time…The only thing that will really make it easier is after the other trial. One down, one to go.”
Dallas-area LGBT folk and allies took to the streets in protest of the Dean attack, and the sluggish response of local officials to the rising anti-LGBT violence in the city. Dallas accounts for 34% of all the anti-gay hate violence in Texas.
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.”
Remembering Barry Winchell
Today marks the ninth anniversary of the death of hate crime victim Barry Winchell. He served in the United States Army and held the rank of Private First Class. Following a period of ongoing harassment directed at Winchell for having dated a transsexual showgirl, fellow soldier Calvin Glover used a baseball bat to bludgeon Winchell as he slept on a cot in the barracks of Fort Campbell. Winchell died of massive head injuries the following day.
Winchell’s brutal murder prompted President Bill Clinton to review the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy, which many cite as a factor in the hate crime.
Today we remember Barry Winchell, and in our memory we restore to him the dignity and respect belonging to every person, regardless of sexual orientation.
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…
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Communicate with the Unfinished Lives project team:
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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…
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Steve Sprinkle
Unfinished Lives: Remembering LGBT Hate Crime VictimsBrite Divinity School/Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth TXprofessor, minister, author, blogger, LGBTQ advocate
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