Photos: SMHayhurst
On Sunday evening a crowd of approximately 150 people gathered at Pier 45 to mourn the death of Jorge Steven Mercado, a 19-year-old gay Puerto Rican teen who was brutally murdered, dismembered and partially burned on the evening of November 13.
One of 20 such vigils held across the country, many attendants were of Puerto Rican descent, holding up posters and fliers professing solidarity and sporting images of the Boricua flag. Speakers included organizers Scott Anthony Evans, Ronnie Kroell, Karlo C. and Stephanie Jones, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, Councilman-elect Danny Domm, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios, poet Emanuel Xavier, and designer Malan Breton,
The mood was emotional—many people were crying as the speakers professed their disappointment and feelings of loss. The brutal nature of the killing and the insensitive reaction on Puerto Rican television by police investigator Ángel Rodríguez Colón, who said (as translated into English), “These types of people, when they enter this lifestyle and go out into the streets know that this could happen.”
The details of the crime are slim: accused killer Martinez Matos picked up Mercado, who was dressed in drag, in the town of Caguas and drove him to the nearby of Cidra. Upon discovering Mercado was a man, he flew into a rage, killing and decapitating Mercado before burning his dismembered body.
“You have to remember, Jorge is our son, he is our child,” Barrios told the crowd on Sunday. Others nodded or spoke in agreement, “That’s right.”
Although Puerto Rico is no stranger to gay male lifestyle, statements like Colón’s demonstrate that attitudes that remain in Caribbean and Latino cultures towards masculinity and the archaic gender dichotomy many people subscribe to. The statement was offensive because it blames the victim, suggesting that violating the gender boundaries is an invitation to violence.
The vigil, which was followed by a memorial service at St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich village, was as much a protest against violence and gender hegemony as a memorial for the all-too-young Mercado—taken from his adoring mother because he chose to express the difference he felt within him.
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Tags: Angel Rodríguez Colon, Anti-Violence Project, Christine Quinn, Danny Dromm, Emanuel Xavier, GLAAD, Jarrett Barrios, Jorge Steven Mercado, Latino Commission on AIDS, Malan Breton, Martinez Matos, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Ronnie Kroell, Scott Anthony Evans, Stephanie Jones
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What a great opportunity to write something emotionally charged. A topic like this extends to all our readers. I hate to admit it but i am disappointed by the lack of feeling here. There is room for good op-ed journalism that did not hit the mark.
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Hey — I appreciate your comment. I was trying to report on the vigil itself. I didn’t take the platform here because I thought that, perhaps, the facts themselves said enough. The little bit of editorializing aside.
But I certainly understand why you feel that way. I do feel very strongly about this crime and what it means. But I invite you, as well, to post your feelings about it! Feel free to take this platform!
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My feelings are simple; pure anger! I am sickened that in this day and age we (as a specific group) have to resort to anonymity and repressed feelings out of fear for our lives. This is just one of several examples in our community where we have been exploited, taken advantage of and in some cases murdered.. MURDERED!!!!
As a group we need to take more repsonisbility for ourselves. We need more of a community and a zero tolerance policy. Maybe its time we bash back!!!! We need REAL PRIDE which extends beyond a summer parade, meetings at gay bars and a few candlelight vigils. Our focus in the media has always leaned towards two stereotypes the “victim” and the comic foil. How can me be taken seriously as a group if our priorities are Lady Gaga and Marc Jacobs and outings to Mr. Black.
In my opinion this boy should not die in vain. It should be a lesson to us ALL to WAKE UP and be accountable for ourselves, our community and our representation. Because no one is going to do it for us. -
@Your Arsenal
I completely agree with you. Sunday was a tough night for me, because I couldn’t attend the event. I’m angry as well, but I’m not sure 100% where or how to channel that anger. Who will listen? Last night I had dinner with a man who said he has “no political interests.” It made me sad to hear it.
I find only a small amount of solace in a speech given by Harvey Milk in 1978 after the defeat of Prop 6 in California.
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Harvey Milk | November 7, 1978
To the gay community all over this state my message to you is so far a lot of people joined us and rejected proposition 6 and now we owe them something.
We owe them to continue the education campaign that took place. We must destroy the myths once and for all — shatter them. We must continue to speak out and most importantly — most importantly — every gay person must come out.
As difficult as it is you must tell you immediate family you must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends — if indeed they are your friends — you must tell your neighbors. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people at the stores you shop in. And once they realize that we are indeed their children that we are indeed everywhere — every myth every lie every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all.
And once you do, you will feel so much better.
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Thank you very much for covering our event, but the work is not yet over. Please keep track of progress at:
http://mercado-vigil.tumblr.com/
I am right in the middle of creating an email campaign directed at Puerto Rican governor Juan Fortuño and US Attorney General Eric Holder. This campaign will demand the application of hate crimes provisions to the murderer’s current first-degree murder charges.
SA
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The violence of the crime, the extent of it, the harshness, the unfairness, I think it’s understood that with or without any emotional wellsprings we all are deeply disturbed and are mourning Mercado’s murder.
Thanks for covering the event.
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