Anti-gay Hate Crime in Brooklyn Leads to Death of Ecuadorian Man

FROM THE GLAAD MEDIA CENTER:

December 09, 2008

An Ecuadorian man has passed away from injuries received late Sunday night in what has been described as an anti-gay and anti-Latino hate crime. Jose Sucuzhanay was walking home arm-in-arm with his brother Romel to their Brooklyn home when they were approached by four men. Shouting anti-gay and anti-Latino slurs, the assailants broke a bottle over Jose’s head and continued to beat him with a baseball bat while his brother ran for help. Jose, 31, died from extensive brain damage and skull fractures early Tuesday morning. According to The New York Times, Brooklyn district attorney Charles J. Hynes has vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. The New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating and has yet to find the attackers. The NYPD urges anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS.

Related Media Coverage:

The New York Times- December 9, 2008
“Ecuadorian Dies From Attack That May Be Treated as Hate Crime”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/nyregion/10assault.html

The Associated Press- December 9, 2008
“NYPD: Anti-Gay, anti-Hispanic beating investigated”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jFilhkKapr8HDB_gRxtnS_7AzvPwD94UUMNG1

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GLAAD: Supreme Court Grants Child-Visitation Rights to Lesbian Parent

FROM THE GLAAD MEDIA CENTER:

December 9, 2008

The four-and-a-half year legal battle between former partners Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins over child-visitation rights came to a close on Monday, December 8 when Jenkins was granted the right to visit their daughter due to a ruling by the United States Supreme Court. The women were joined in a civil union in Vermont in 2000 and raised Miller’s biological daughter together. Following the dissolution of their civil union, a lengthy custody battle began. Miller, who moved to Virginia with their daughter, sought sole custody and Jenkins, who remained in Vermont, sought parental and visitation rights. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia must enforce a Vermont court order that awarded child-visitation rights to Jenkins. The decision signifies a landmark ruling as one of the most high-profile cases on the rights of gay and lesbian parents across state lines.

Related Media Coverage:

The Associated Press – December 9, 2008
“Va. Must Enforce Gay Visitation Rights”
http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=9479398

Newsweek – December 6, 2008
“Mrs. Kramer Vs. Mrs. Kramer”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/172554

Media Contact:

Richard Ferraro
Director of Public Relations
(646) 871-8011
ferraro@glaad.org

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Windy City Times: LGBT band to march in Obama’s inaugural parade

FROM THE WINDY CITY TIMES:

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) has announced that it will be included as a marching contingent in President-elect Barack Obama’s Jan. 20, 2009, inaugural parade. This is the first time that an LGBT group will be represented in a presidential inaugural parade.

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NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

Dallas Voice: Tragedy of the closet; cop’s secret gay love affair and tragic death

FROM THE DALLAS VOICE:

As murder retrial gets under way, story of a clandestine gay love affair and a young man’s tragic death should serve as a cautionary tale

By Hardy Haberman

For some people, being “in the closet” is a personal hell. But it often affects others, too.

Take the case of Steven Rios, a married police officer from Columbia, Mo.

According to prosecutors, Officer Rios, when faced with the possibility of having his gay relationship revealed to his wife and family, decided to reach into his closet and pull out a knife — a knife he used to slash the throat of Jesse Valencia, a 23-year-old student attending college at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Officer Rios began the relationship with Valencia in 2004 when he arrested the student for interfering with a police call about a loud party. Rios told the court that their sexual relationship began that very night.

Rios was convicted of the murder three years ago, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, saying the trial court allowed inadmissible hearsay testimony the first time around.

The new trial began Monday, Dec. 1, and Rios faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole if he is convicted. Court officials said they expect the trial to end by Friday, Dec. 5.

The story is a graphic example of how the closet can kill. It should be a wake-up call for every LGBT person that is trying to hide their sexual orientation.

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NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

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