Mother of Slain Gay Puerto Rican Teen Speaks Out; Protests and Vigils Break Out Worldwide
Miriam Mercado and Pedro Serrano show Jorge's Signature Gesture (Nueva Dia photo)
San Juan, Puerto Rico – The mother of brutally murdered gay teen, Jorge Steven López Mercado, has broken her silence concerning the social and religious environment in Puerto Rico that led to the loss of her son (see Nueva Dia photo, left). In a statement issued to the press, Miriam Mercado said, “When my son told me he was gay, I told him, ‘Now, I love you more’. I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone… could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son.” Meanwhile, the investigation into López Mercado’s murder continues, even as protests and vigils spring up on his home island and around the world, condemning the violence that took his life. After Juan A. Martínez Matos confessed to the beheading, dismemberment, and burning of young López Mercado, his home was intensively searched. Forensics experts recovered a knife believed to have been used in the murder that had been thrown into a septic tank. Statements Matos has made about the events leading up to his savage crime make it likely that he will plead a form of the “gay panic defense,” claiming temporary insanity after ‘discovering’ López Mercado’s sexual identity. Matos is being held in San Juan on $4 million bail. At a large protest on the grounds of the Puerto Rican capitol on Thursday, Pedro Julio Serrano, a leading LGBT activist, called out political and religious leaders who have characterized gay and lesbian people as “perverts,” condemning their hate speech for contributing to lethal violence against members of the sexual minority. Serrano also decried the refusal of these same leaders to extend condolences to López Mercado’s mother and family. On Sunday, vigils took place around the United States, Latin America, and Europe in memory of the 19-year-old Puerto Rican and another gruesomely slain gay teen, African American Jason Mattison, Jr., who died within days of López Mercado, making last week one of the most shocking in recent anti-LGBT hate crime history. Thousands of mourners gathered to remember the teens in Anchorage, Alaska, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, CA, San Francisco, Chicago, Terra Haute, IN, San Antonio, Dallas, Abilene, Lubbock, New Orleans, Atlanta, Durham, NC, Washington, DC, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City, as well as in San Juan and at others sites in Puerto Rico.
African American Gay Teen Slaughtered in Baltimore
Baltimore, MD – A 15-year-old African American sophomore who was open to his classmates about his sexual orientation was found Tuesday, November 10 stuffed in a closet in his aunt’s house, raped, gagged with a pillowcase, and stabbed multiple times in the head and throat. The Baltimore Sun reports that Dante Parrish, 35, a convicted felon who knew Jason Mattison, Jr. and his family, was arrested on November 12 at a convenience store, and charged with first-degree murder. After release from prison, Parrish roomed in Mattison’s aunt’s home on Llewellyn Avenue, where Jason was also living at the time. Reports speculate that Parrish had forced a sexual relationship on the teenager. A spokesman from the Baltimore Police Department said that Parrish, who is being held in custody without bond, confessed to the murder. Jason was a joyous non-conformist, known at West Baltimore’s Vivian T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy where he attended high school as a witty, chatty young gay man who lived out his sexual orientation without apology. When other boys harassed him for his tight jeans and feminine-looking sweaters, he always seemed to have a quick answer, and would walk away from the encounter smiling. He had planned to become a pediatrician according to his teachers, who believed that no matter how cheery he appeared to be, the slurs hurled at him still hurt. When he came out to his family, there was some friction, but gradually they accepted him, according to his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Wanda Williams. Williams was among the earliest members of his family to whom he came out, and she admitted to reporters that his revelations caught her off-guard. She was worried about her grandson. “I accepted his sexual preferences,” she said. “But I told him, ‘You’re young and don’t understand life.’ I told him, ‘Plenty of young women would love to be with you.’ He said he likes boys. Young people don’t like to listen to adults, but I told him I’m not going to push him away.” Jason’s murder has devastated his grandmother. “I haven’t cried so much this entire life,” Williams said to The Sun. “My grandson hollering for help and there is nobody there to help him.” Many unanswered questions remain for family, classmates and friends. Why would his relatives allow Parrish to stay in the same house as Jason, given Parrish’s violent past? Were the reports of a sexual relationship with Parrish true, or fabricated by a man facing the worst criminal charges of his life? What were the circumstances that led up to one of the most gruesome anti-gay murders in the history of Baltimore? Jason’s funeral was held this Wednesday at Unity United Methodist Church. His cousin, Laquanna Couplin, who was also living in the house on Llewellyn where Jason was killed, told reporters, “He was a terrific boy, and we miss him very much. We’re hoping that justice is served and that the person who is responsible for this goes to prison and doesn’t get out.” She spoke lovingly of her young cousin, “He was a sweet young man. He wasn’t afraid of who he was. He had a life ahead of him. I just wish he could’ve had a chance to live it.” A candlelight vigil is planned Sunday, November 22 in Dallas, Texas to call for justice for Jason.
Demands for Justice in Slaying of Gay Teen in Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico – The Associated Press reports this evening that in response to mounting pressure from local LGBT activists and the large and vocal Puerto Rican communities in New York and Chicago, the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office is seriously considering entering the effort to investigate and prosecute Jorge Steven López Mercado’s alleged killer as a hate crime under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, signed into law last month by President Barack Obama. Two members of Congress from New York of Puerto Rican descent, U.S. Representative José E. Serrano and U.S. Representative Nydia Velasquez, have both added their influence to bring the U.S. Justice Department into the case. Puerto Rican police officials have signaled their willingness to proceed with the investigation as a possible anti-LGBT hate crime, as well. A prosecutor who interviewed Juan Antonio Martínez Matos, the alleged murderer, said that he confessed to have stabbed 19-year-old López Mercado after he discovered that he had solicited sex from a male and not a female. The prosecutor, José Bermudez Santos, remarked to a local newspaper that Matos said he met his victim Thursday night in a section known for prostitution. The confessed killer went on to say that López Mercado was wearing a dress at the time. “He [Matos] has a deep-seated rage,” Santos went on to say. Matos was charged on Wednesday with first-degree murder and weapons violations, and then jailed with a $4 million bond. Should he be convicted, he would likely face life in prison without hope of parole. Puerto Rican LGBT advocates have been quick to bring the focus of media back to the heinous nature of the crime, rather than the alleged descriptions of the victim. They insist that no one lose sight of the fact that a horrific crime has been committed against a well-known member of their community, a young person who volunteered for HIV prevention and for gay rights. Local LGBT rights activist, Pedro Julio Serrano, who represents the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Puerto Rico, said that there had been more than 10 anti-LGBT murders on the island in the last seven years that should have been investigated as hate crimes. While there is a statute on the books concerning hate crimes already, enacted into law in 2002, sexual orientation has never been permitted as a protected category. Should the murder of López Mercado be prosecuted as a bias-related crime, it will be a first in Puerto Rican history. “The people of Puerto Rico are very inclusive and accepting of differences,” Serrano remarked to the AP. “I think these kinds of crimes show the ugly side of homophobia, but it’s a minority of people that are willing to be so violent in expressing their prejudice.” LGBT historians note that Puerto Rico has a grim heritage of homophobic and transphobic crimes. According to the Enquirer-Herald, the island was terrorized in the 1980’s by serial killer Angel Colón Maldonado, called “The Angel of the Bachelors,” for slaying 27 gay men before his capture. Maldonado is serving life in prison. These crimes notwithstanding, Puerto Rico also has shown itself to be more inclusive and welcoming of LGBT people than some other Caribbean islands, like Jamaica, where queer folk are still deeply closeted. Serrano announced a protest at the Capitol in San Juan on Thursday. Rallies and memorial gatherings are planned on the mainland in Dallas, Chicago and New York this weekend.
19 Transgender Murders Per Month in 2009 To Be Remembered at TDOR
On November 20, 2009, the international transgender community will observe the 11th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is a memorial observance of the lives of transmen and transwomen who have been killed during the previous year due to anti-transgender hatred, violence, and prejudice. According to the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), Rita Hester’s murder in 1998 sparked the beginning of the TDOR which has evolved into hundreds of local events and memorials throughout the nation and the world. This year the LGBT community will mourn more than 95 murdered transgender individuals internationally according to Ethan St. Pierre, amounting to an average of 19 per month. In 2008, there were 47 transgender murder victims remembered at TDOR. The murder rate has spiked nearly 100%, virtually doubling in just 12 months. A more frightening assessment issued by Liminalis, a journal “For Sex/Gender Emancipation and Resistance,” reports that in the year-and-a-half from January 2008 until the middle of 2009, better than 200 transgender people were murdered world-wide, with the bulk of these statistics coming from North and South America. According to this report, Brazil is the most dangerous country in the world for transpeople accounting for 59 deaths in 2008, followed by the United States of America where 16 murders of transgender folk occurred. Accurate data are notoriously hard to establish on the numbers of transgender murders domestically and world-wide. Reporters and researchers have meticulously combed the internet for names and accounts, but many victims remain unnamed. Reports of trans deaths in news sources with no internet presence are routinely missed. While the most sensational murders of transpeople remain those of transwomen, the numbers of reported slayings of transmen and queer youths who present femininely are clearly on the rise. In addition to memorials for the slain at this year’s TDOR, major political and legal victories for the transgender community will also be highlighted. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act has been signed into law by President Obama, extending protections from violent crimes to transgender people in the United States for the first time. The past year has also seen the successful conviction and sentencing of two murderers who took the lives of transgender women under state anti-hate crime statutes, one in Colorado and another in New York. The message of these convictions to reluctant local law enforcement officials is that convictions for bias-related hate crimes against transgender people are attainable from juries throughout the country, giving the lie to the often-repeated excuse that hate crimes are difficult to impossible to prosecute successfully. Allen Ray Andrade was put away for life for the murder of Angie Zapata in Greeley, Colorado under such a statute, as well as Dwight DeLee, who received 25 years for the murder of Lateisha Green in Syracuse, New York.
Ted Kennedy, Tireless LGBT Advocate, Dies at Age 77
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, legendary liberal Lion of the United States Senate, has died of brain cancer at age 77 in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. The Kennedy family has issued this statement to the public: “Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.” Kennedy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in May 2008. The LGBT community has lost a great champion for human rights. A true ally of sexual minorities, Kennedy lobbied for rights and protections for all Americans. As recently as July 13, 2009, he made these remarks in favor of the Senate passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, of which he was a sponsor: “Violent attacks based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability deserve to be criminalized by federal law. Our nation must show that it will not permit these communities to be terrorized – one victim at a time. Over 10 years have passed since the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act was first introduced in the Senate. Over 10 years have passed since Matthew Shepard was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die because he was gay. I commend Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard, for her years of inspiring advocacy that have brought us to this moment. Now is the time for the Senate to vote and show that we will not allow domestic terrorism to tear apart the fabric of our nation and take the lives of innocent Americans. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to follow their hearts and minds and vote in favor of this legislation.” Perhaps Kennedy will be best remembered for his unstinting advocacy for universal healthcare, “the cause of his life,” that was on his mind as he fought a losing battle with cancer. He took responsibility for his personal appetites and flaws, showing the nation he loved that he deserved our respect and affection because imperfect people can do magnificent things. He was born to privilege, but instead chose to serve, becoming one of the few greats in the history of the Senate. When Webster, Clay, Calhoun and Taft are honored in years to come, Kennedy will be remembered among them. Teddy Kennedy, the passionate defender of women, LGBT people, the poor, and the infirm, fought the good fight. It would be only fitting to note on his epitaph that among his posthumous legislative achievements were the Matthew Shepard Act and the Universal Healthcare Act. To inscribe them there must now be our labor of love and respect for Teddy, the People’s Lion.
New Book Announcement: “The Meaning of Matthew” by Judy Shepard
The Matthew Shepard Foundation, http://www.matthewshepard.org, announces the publication of a new book on Matthew Shepard authored by his mother, Judy Shepard: The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. From the book announcement letter:
“Today, the name Matthew Shepard is synonymous with gay rights, but before his grisly murder in 1998, Matthew was simply Judy Shepard’s son. For the first time in book form, Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, sharing memories of Matthew, their life as a typical American family, and the pivotal event in the small college town that changed everything.
“The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime, when Judy and her husband traveled to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the incredible response from strangers all across America who held candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and finally, how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew’s murderers were on trial. Heart-wrenchingly honest, Judy Shepard confides with readers about how she handled the crippling loss of her child, why she became a gay rights activist, and the challenges and rewards of raising a gay child in America today.
“The Meaning of Matthew not only captures the historical significance and complicated civil rights issues surrounding one young man’s life and death, but it also chronicles one ordinary woman’s struggle to cope with the unthinkable.”
All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to support the work of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. This is a landmark book not to be missed by supporters of the Unfinished Lives Project.
Satendar Singh Remembered: Would Have Been 29 Today
Satendar Singh (July 21, 1980-July 5, 2007)
Satendar Singh, gay Indo-Fijian immigrant to the United States, would have been 29 years old today. He was fatally injured at California’s Lake Natoma State Park by Slavic fundamentalist Christians who shouted slurs at him on July 1, 2007, calling him “Hindu,” “7-11 Worker,” “Faggot,” and taunting him that he should “go to a good church” like they did. Punched in the face by Andrey Vusik, a Russian car exporter who had just come from church that Sunday morning, Singh fell backward, striking his head on a concrete walk. Though he regained consciousness for a short time, Singh went into a coma, losing all brain activity. Since his parents lived 5,000 miles away in the South Pacific nation of Fiji, the decision to remove life support from him fell to his uncle and aunt, who like Singh, lived in Sacramento. Vusik fled the United States, leaving his wife and three small children behind in West Sacramento, and is still at large. An accomplice of his, Alexandr Shevchenko, stood trial in May 2008 for inciting a fight, assault, and a hate crime. He was found guilty of the two misdemeanor charges, but the the jury deadlocked 7-5 on the hate crime charge. Shevchenko was sentenced to 150 days in jail. Singh’s fatal offense seems to have been dancing with both men and women friends who went to the lake with him to celebrate his promotion at work. Friction between Slavic fundamentalist Christians who teach that homosexuality is a sin and the large LGBT population of Sacramento had been growing for over two years, with thousands of “Russian Baptists” and Pentecostals from Russia, Uzbekistan, the Ukraine, and Belorussia who emigrated to the US for religious freedom protesting any public LGBT celebration or event in the Sacramento Valley. LGBT rights advocates feared that something deadly might happen one day, and they point to Satendar Singh’s murder as evidence that they were right. The two men who attacked Singh and his party of friends had ties to the anti-gay extremist group, Watchmen On the Walls, featured in the Intelligence Report of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Singh, a Sikh and not a Hindu as his attackers falsely assumed, was transported back to Fiji for the last rites of his funeral. Rest in peace, sweet brother!
“Full Military Honors”: The Irony of A Nation’s Thanks for a Murdered Gay Sailor
Houston, TX – The dignified notice of services attending the interment of Seaman August Provost appeared in the Houston Chronicle on July 9th: “SEAMAN AUGUST “B.J.” PROVOST III 29 A courageous soldier, passed away (Thurs) 06-30-09 while serving in the U.S. Navy @ Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Ca. Visitation (Fri) 07-10-09 from 10am-11am @ Wright Grove Missionary Baptist Church; 9702 Willow Street. Funeral services will begin at 11am. Interment: full military honors will be given in his honor at Houston National Cemetery – (Gate-time 2:30pm). Boyd Funeral Home.” As a gay sailor who had not yet been outed and discharged under the provisions of the 1993 DADT law, August Provost was eligible for “Full Military Honors.” The Military Funeral Honors web site details what by law they must be for August Provost: “Military Funeral Honors have always been provided whenever possible. However, the law now mandates the rendering of Military Funeral Honors for an eligible veteran if requested by the family. As provided by law, an honor guard detail for the burial of an eligible veteran shall consist of not less than two members of the Armed Forces. One member of the detail shall be a representative of the parent Service of the deceased veteran. The honor detail will, at a minimum, perform a ceremony that includes the folding and presenting of the American flag to the next of kin and the playing of Taps. Taps will be played by a bugler, if available, or by electronic recording. Today, there are so few buglers available that the Military Services often cannot provide one.” Of course, Seaman Provost is due all honor by a grateful nation for his service in the Navy. Every fallen LGBT servicemember is due the full honors of the United States of America whose flag they served. But the irony fairly crackles around this funeral notice. Seaman Provost was brutally murdered, shot multiple times as if by execution. His body was found partially burned in a guard shack, probably the work of a killer intent on covering up his gruesome handiwork. Seaman Provost had confided in his family and to his same-sex lover that he had been harassed for being gay for the better part of a year by someone on base. But he would not report any of this to a superior, lest in the name of the same body of law that now covers him with honor, he be investigated and summarily drummed out of the military for being a homosexual. So, someone finally worked his evil, and Seaman Provost died, vulnerable and unprotected, a gay man like so many tens of thousands of others who vow to protect and defend the very nation that will not do the same for them. May the family, and Seaman Provost’s bereaved lover, to whom the honors of the nation refuse to extend in President Obama’s America, find comfort for their loss. May Seaman Provost rest in peace in Houston National Cemetery, covered with honor as he should be. But the rest of us should be put on notice that DADT must not stand one day longer, else this brave gay man will have died in some sense bitterly. As for us at the Unfinished Lives Project, we cannot help being Red, White, and terribly Sad.
Charlie Howard Remembered on the 25th Anniversary of His Murder
Charles O. "Charlie" Howard's High School Annual Picture
Charles O. “Charlie” Howard, thrown off a downtown Bangor bridge and drowned in 1984 by young hoodlums intent on terrorizing a gay person, is being remembered all week in Maine with lectures, events, and church services. After 25 years, a monument to him is finally in place near the State Street Bridge beneath which he died. His death was terrifying and hard. According to the autopsy report revealed at the trial of his murderers, he died of a combination of asphyxia from drowning, and from a severe attack of asthma. Professor Marvin Ellison of Bangor Theological Seminary remembers how his killers were lauded as celebrities when the news got out. Young toughs rode through the streets of Bangor, spewing anti-gay hate speech and brandishing shotguns. Even so-called “decent people” adopted a wait-and-see attitude that masked their private belief that somehow the flaming gay boy with the man bag and the painted nails got what was coming to him. The only religious groups in town who spoke out against the hatred were the Unitarian Universalists and the Jews. It is hard to remember these things, hard on the self-image of a proud city. But it has to be done, lest something like this happens again, and Charlie will have died in vain. As Professor Ellison said recently to the Bangor Daily News,
“Now years later, it’s a healthy sign that many more people register embarrassment, outrage and, yes, even shame that such an event happened in their city, their state and their country. For those of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, we’ve learned the value of claiming the goodness of our lives and the healing power of pride. We’ve come to realize that we can honor Charlie Howard and others who have lost their lives by living our lives openly with self-respect and with determination to make the world safer for difference.”
Finally, in 2009, Maine has finally recognized same-sex marriage. Many see this as a vindication in some small way of the pain and suffering of a young gay man ‘way back in the Reagan Era.
Rest in peace, Charlie.
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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Dr. Sprinkle has given his Unfinished Lives presentation to these and other community groups and organizations. Read More…
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Unfinished Lives: Remembering LGBT Hate Crime VictimsBrite Divinity School/Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth TXprofessor, minister, author, blogger, LGBTQ advocate
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Unfinished Lives 
The Death and Life of Sean Kennedy: A Commemoration
Sean Kennedy had no chance. In effect, he was dead from the moment his skull struck the curb. Elke Kennedy, his mother, has had to live with the horror of his murder ever since.
Moller, on the other hand, reveled in his macho moment. In a drunken phone call to one of Sean’s friends just fifteen minutes after the crime, Moller taunted Kennedy for his sexual orientation. Though it was taped and verified to be Moller’s voice, the call was never allowed into testimony at Moller’s trial:
“Hey. (laughter) Whoa stop. (laughter) Hey, I was just wondering how your boyfriend’s feeling right about now. (laughter) (??) knocked the f— out. (laughter). The f—— faggot. He ought to never stick his mother-f—— nose (??) Where are you going? Just a minute. (laughter). Yea boy, your boy is knocked out, man. The mother——-. Tell him he owes me $500.00 for breaking my god—- hand on his teeth that f—— bitch.”
Moller's mug shot, SC Department of Corrections
Gay panic. AIDS terror. Homophobia. Macho bravado. A hands-on-attack in which the assailant feels the need to damage his target up close and personally. These are all the hallmarks of an anti-LGBT hate crime, as well as the response of the police on the scene who refused to take the hate crime dimension of the assault seriously enough to investigate it until later, and the reluctance of the District Attorney to bring sexual orientation into the case for fear of local heterosexist and homophobic prejudices. Local law enforcement reluctance to investigate or prosecute hate crimes against LGBT people is one of the prime reasons a federal hate crimes statute like the Matthew Shepard Act is so needed. Under the provisions of the Shepard Act, the Attorney General of the United States is enpowered to take over the investigation and prosecution of such a hate crime in situations like this one. No doubt, Moller’s homophobic braggadocio would have been taken into account, had the Shepard Act been on the books at the time of Sean Kennedy’s murder. Moller’s defense rested on two contentions that the court in Greenville bought, in the end: first, Moller didn’t even know Kennedy was gay until after the assault, the inadmissible taped phone conversation to the contrary, and second, nothing in this case rose to the level of murder. The D.A. settled for a charge of manslaughter which carries a penalty of 0-5 years in South Carolina. Moller got three years with credit for time served, and sympathy for his need to support a baby he sired while in the custody of the state. An attempt to lessen his prison time failed, thanks to the efforts of Sean Kennedy’s mother, stepfather, and hundreds of concerned people from around the country who petitioned the parole board in Columbia to deny Moller’s petition for early release. In the end, Moller will serve about a year and a half of actual time, with probation for the hate crime murder of an innocent gay man. Moller is due to be set free, his debt to society paid in full, in July 2009.
Sean’s death still tortures his loved ones. His mother said, “My son was violently murdered because of hate and as his mother I wanted justice. My family will never be the same, a big part of our lives has been ripped out of our hearts.” For too many hate crimes victims, that would be the end of it–injustice, anguish, and the eventual amnesia of a society that would rather just not think about such things. But not for Sean.
The struggle for justice for Sean continues. Elke Kennedy recently said, “No mother should lose a child to hate. No mother should have to fight for justice for their child. To parents who reject their children for their orientation, what would you do if you got a call at three in the morning telling you your child had been murdered?” And Sean’s new life past his death, in memory, in advocacy, and as a cherished story that shall not be forgotten goes on and on. As Sean himself wrote, “So who knows what’s around the corner or down the street. I’m just gonna live life and find out.”
~~ Stephen V. Sprinkle, Director of the Unfinished Lives Project
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May 17, 2009 Posted by unfinishedlives | Heterosexism and homophobia, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Social Justice Advocacy, South Carolina | Anglo Americans, Beatings and battery, gay men, hate crime, hate crimes legislation, Law and Order, Matthew Shepard Act, Remembrances, Special Comment | Comments Off on The Death and Life of Sean Kennedy: A Commemoration