Martin Lazin

A vigil was held in Philadelphia last week to remember 19-year-old Jorge Lopez Mercado Lopez.  Jorge, a Puerto Rican native, was found partially burned, decapitated and with arms and legs dismembered, on the side of the road near his home town in Puerto Rico on Saturday, November 14.

The Vigil was held at the Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, in Philadelphia.   

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organizations, activists and allies attended.  The Vigil included the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, Gloria Casarez, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Liaison to Mayor Nutter, Cynthia Vasquez, youth activist at the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative, and Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum.

There were 29 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender  hate crime murders in the United States in 2008.  

Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum, said:
"We must stop the homophobic slaughter. Since Matthew Shepard's murder in 1998, there have been over 16,000 gay hate crimes, and on average, about 1,450 GLBT hate crimes per year.

Police have identified a suspect in the murder of Jorge Lopez Mercado. According to Puerto Rican activists, gay hate crimes in Puerto Rico are not prosecuted.

Lazin said:
"We call on US Attorney General Holder to investigate and prosecute in federal court this horrific crime/ The decapitation and dismemberment of Jorge Lopez Mercado reminds America that we need to eliminate homophobia in our schools, communities and culture."