November 20, 2009

Equality Across America is organizing vigils in several cities to remember López and to oppose the bigotry against LGBT people that leads to such barbaric crimes.

López was "a very well-known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved," wrote Christopher Pagan in a statement at CNN's Webs site. López volunteered for organizations advocating HIV prevention and LGBT rights. But the first response of the authorities was bigotry. A police officer investigating the crime said on television: "[P]eople who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen."

A gay man in Puerto Rico was the victim of a horrific crime last weekend. On November 14, 19-year-old Jorge Steven López Mercado was found dead by the side of a deserted road near Caguas, where he lived. His body had been partially burned, decapitated and dismembered.

EQUALITY ACROSS America (EAA) extends our deepest condolences to the family of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the openly gay Puerto Rican man who was brutally slain last week in what appears to have been a hate crime.

It is in sadness and solidarity that we gather across the nation in memory of Mr. Mercado. These vigils will be publicized as tangible evidence of our support for the Puerto Rican lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community as well as all other victims of hate crimes and their families.

EAA member Sherry Wolf explains, "So long as the federal government maintains discriminatory laws against LGBTQI people, unimaginable acts of brutality like this one are more likely to occur."

Equality Across America fully denounces inequality of any kind based on class, race, religion, age or community including but not limited to individuals that identify as LGBTQI. It is our mission to secure equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. We will accept no less and will work until it is achieved.

Jorge Steven López Mercado

In conjunction with our commitment to equality, we call on officials to ensure that all applicable hate crime provisions be applied to this case. At present, there is evidence that Mr. Mercado may have been targeted based on his sexual orientation. We are outraged by the televised public statement by a Puerto Rican police investigator who stated "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen."

Below is a partial list of solidarity vigils taking place in cities across the United States.