Nearly 2000 individuals congregated outside a civic plaza in Puebla, Mexico on Tuesday, demanding justice for slain Mexican transgender activist Agnés Torres Hernández, whose body was found on Friday by neighbors who reported the crime to local police.
Mexican Attorney General is considering the investigation of Torres' murder as a hate crime, according to the newspaper El Universal (in Spanish).
She was last seen on Friday night when she left her home to attend a party in Chipilo, a small town in the state of Puebla. She was found clothed only in underwear, a blouse with suspenders and a brown jacket on Saturday in a ditch outside the city of Puebla. Her throat had been slashed and there were several burn marks across her body.
Torres, a 28 year-old psychologist and educator, is remembered as an activist and ardent defender of human rights in Mexico's LBGT community. She was an important figure in the strive for acceptance for the transgender community in her native country.
News of her death quickly spread on Twitter under the hashtag #AgnesTorres. Family, friends and members of the LGBT community attended her burial in the city of Tehuacán on Tuesday morning.
Torres’ death adds to a series of violent acts against the LGBT community in Puebla that have been happening since January.
“It's the sixth crime this year against members of the LGBT community and none of them have been resolved," said Brahim Zamora, a representative of the organization "Democracia y Sexualidad" (Demysex) ("Democracy and Sexuality") to CNN Mexico.
The murder case of Jorge Roberto Macip, 47, was also reported this past weekend. His body was found in his own house by his partner. Ninety-five percent of Macip's body was burnt.
These tragic deaths can be attributed to the prejudice that still exists in the country, according to José Ángel Aguilar Gil, national coordinator of Demysex. "It's another homophobic crime," he said to CNN Mexico.
Gay Latinos Breaking Barriers:
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Charles Rice-Gonzalez
Charles Rice-Gonzalez, born in Puerto Rico, is a writer and LGBT activist. He published his first novel, "Chulito," in October. Set in the Bronx, where Rice-Gonzalez grew up, "Chulito" (cutie) is a coming out story about a young Latino who grows up in an environment that is very oppressive of gay culture. His second book, which he is currently working on, shares a similar focus on the queer Latino community, though the story will take place in the South Bronx. Rice-Gonzalez is also an active playwright and has had his work published in a variety of reviews and anthologies.
Roland Palencia
Roland Palencia is an activist who represents a variety of populations from the undocumented to the uninsured to the LGBT community. Palencia, who is Guatemalan, currently works as the community benefits director at the L.A. Care Health Plan. He retained the position of executive director of Equality California, which was a major powerhouse in the opposition of Proposition 8, but resigned a few months into the job in October. Palencia also served as the vice president and chief of operations of the international AIDS Healthcare Foundation from 1992 to 1998. Aside from his full-time positions, Palencia has also founded a number of community-based organizations, such as Gay and Lesbian Latinos, and serves on the board of others including HONOR PAC, the LGBT Latino Political Action Committee.
Ricky Martin
Singer Ricky Martin began his career at an early age with the teen group Menudo. Once he reached 18 and finished high school in Puerto Rico, Martin relocated to New York to launch his solo career, releasing his first album in 1988. But he didn't achieve international fame until the debut of his first English single, "Living? La Vida Loco," which helped bring Latino culture into mainstream pop music. Martin first came out to the public in 2010 after posting a statement on his website. Since then, he has taken up the crusade as a gay Latino advocate, often speaking out on issues that effect both communities.
Jarrett Barrios
Cuban-American Jarrett Barrios (pictured here with Gavin Creel, right) is the former president and chief executive officer of GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. He began his professional career as an attorney, before turning on a political path and rising to the Massachusetts State Senate. Barrios held dual honors as the first Latino and first openly gay man elected to the Massachusetts Senate. In this position, he spearheaded the legislation for equal marriage rights in Massachusetts. When the state became the first in the nation to allow same-sex marriage, Barrios married his partner and became one of the first elected officials in the country to do so. Barrios currently serves as the chief executive of operations/regional executive at the American Red Cross in Massachusetts.
Jesus Ramirez-Valles
Jesus Ramirez-Valles, born in Mexico, is a scholar and an advocate for Latino and LGBT health. Currently a professor of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Ramirez-Valles has worked in the public health field in the U.S. and Latin America for more than 20 years and holds a Ph.D. and a M.P.H. Ramirez-Valles published his first book, "Companeros: Latino Activists in the Face of Aids," in 2011, but has also authored and co-authored numerous research papers on gay Latino men. Ramirez-Valles also has experience as a filmmaker. His 2007 documentary, "Tal Como Somos," (Just as We Are), was selected for several international and national LGBT film festivals.
Jose Gutierrez
Jose Gutierrez is the founder and president of the Latino GLBT History Project, a non-profit organization that preserves and educates the history of the gay Latino population. Working as a human rights and AIDS activist since 1989, Gutierrez advocates for the gay Latino community. He organized the first DC Latino Pride in 2007, which has since become an annual celebration. He also works at LA Clinica Del Pueblo and serves a member of the LGBT advisory committee for the mayor of Washington, D.C.
Jorge Gutierrez
As a child, Jorge Gutierrez was brought across the U.S.-Mexico border by his parents illegally. Today, he works as an undocumented queer activist, trying to bridge the gap between LGBT and pro-immigration groups. His efforts have been focused primarily on the DREAM Act movement. Gutierrez currently serves on the board of directors of United We Dream, an immigrant youth-led organization with a focus on equal access to higher education for all.
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/undocumented-queer-latino-teens_n_1270994.html" target="_hplink">Check out Jorge Gutierrez's full story.</a>
Jorge Amaro
Los Angeles native Jorge Amaro (pictured here with Kathy Griffin) is a LGBT and Latino rights activist. Amaro actively advocates for members of the gay Latino community online, often taking to the blogs to proclaim his pride as a gay man with Mexican roots. He currently serves as the communications manager for Equality California, the major opponent of Proposition 8.
Anthony D. Romero
Anthony Romero, of Puerto Rican descent, is an attorney with a background in public-interest activism. He currently serves as the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union -- a role he took four days before 9/11 -- and is the first Latino and openly gay man to hold the position. Romero was named one of Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America in 2005 and was also featured in the recent <em>HBO</em> documentary "The Latino List."
Larry Baza
Larry Baza, of Mexican and Chamorro heritage, is a LGBT and Latino rights activist. His first forte into the arena was with the Gay Liberation Movement's opposition of the Briggs Initiative, a California proposition of a ban of gays and lesbians from working in public schools. He produced the first major AIDS fundraiser in the arts community, Artists for Aids Assistance, and has served as executive director and board member of a number of California-based arts organizations.
Baza currently serves as immediate past-president and board member of the San Diego Democratic Club. He currently serves on the City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, he is also a past board member of Honor PAC, the first statewide Latino LGBT political action committee in California.
<em><strong>CORRECTION</strong>: An earlier version of this slide identified Baza as Executive Vice President of the San Diego Democratic Club.</em>
Perez Hilton
Perez Hilton, whose actual name is Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr., has made himself a household name for celebrity-news junkies with his blog, Perezhilton.com. Through his website, Hilton often calls out celebrities and members of the entertainment industry for everything from their fashion sense to discriminatory remarks made. In 2009, Hilton was named "Hispanic of the Year" by Hispanic magazine.
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First Posted: 03/15/2012 1:06 pm Updated: 03/16/2012 9:46 am