Gay Man Decapitated, Dismembered; Investigator Sides with Killer

Brace yourself. This one gets ugly fast.

The following was published late last night through CNN’s iReport network by Christopher Pagan about Thursday’s grisly murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado in Puerto Rico. (h/t TowleRoad)

I am writing to you about a tragic murder that has happened here in Puerto Rico. It has really only made local news simply because we are on this island, but you are the voice of those that are unheard throughout the world. On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso.

This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that “people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen”. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven López was asking to get killed.

We have a gay rights activist in Puerto Rico Pedro Julio Serrano. Who does his best to defend [against] these hateful acts, but the international attention is needed for this local government to wake up and give us the needed rights and proper justice to such hateful crimes. You are the biggest beacon of hope in such horrific events to be made known.

Jorge Steven López Mercado
1990 - 2009

According to Primera Hora, friends became worried (auto-translate from Google) last Thursday when Steven didn’t show up at Road to Diva, an event at local gay club Krash that he’d told friends earlier in the day that he would attend.

Puerto Rico Para Tod@s‘s Pedro Julio Serrano released a statement (in Spanish (pdf)) yesterday that reads in part:

It is inconceivable that the investigating officer suggests that the victim deserved his fate, like a woman deserves rape for wearing a short skirt. We demand condemnation of this investigator and demand that Superintendente Figueroa Sancha replace him with someone capable of investigating this case without prejudice.

This is why we fight, folks. Other attacks and indignities LGBT people suffer look slight in comparison to this murder, but it all comes from the same fear and hatred, and far too many people in straight America quietly agree with the investigator.

My prayers, insufficient as they are, go out to Steven’s family and friends.