Archive for the ‘Colorado’ Category
Verdict in Angie Zapata Case : Guilty
9:08 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Colorado| GLBT| Justice| media justice · 8 Comments
23 Apr 2009Allen Ray Andrade was found guilty of the first degree murder and of bias motivated crime charges. He was sentenced to life without parole.
Here is what the family of Angie Zapata had to say following the announcement of the verdict:
Watching this made me cry. While the verdict is a legal victory it certainly can’t feel like justice to a family that will never have their daughter/sister/aunt back. While the verdict proved that attempts to make transpanic a legitimate excuse for violence against women failed, the verdict doesn’t make it safer for transwomen, especially transwomen of color to live without fear. Media ignored this case in my opinion and in doing so doubly victimized and silenced Angie, her family, and entire communities.
Angie Zapata Case Goes to Jury as a Hate Crime
4:21 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colorado| GLBT| Justice| crime| society · Comments Off
22 Apr 2009The trial of transgender murder victim Angie Zapata goes to the jury today in Colorado, and marks the first time the state will try a case in which gender identity — recognized as a protected class by Colorado and 11 other states — gets hate crime status.
The killer, one Allen Andrade, claims he lost control upon learning Angie’s gender but prosecutors say the killing — by blunt force trauma with a fire extinguisher — was premeditated:
But prosecutor Brandi Nieto argued that Andrade learned the truth about Zapata’s gender 36 hours before he killed her. Andrade had accompanied Zapata to traffic court, where clerks called her Justin Zapata, Nieto said.“This was not a snap decision,” she said.
Last month, a judge threw out Andrade’s confession to police, saying it came after the suspect told them he was through answering questions. Prosecutors say they intend to use statements he made to others, including, “It’s not like I . . . killed a straight, law-abiding citizen.”
Wow, what a heartless individual.
The L.A. Times reports that controversy has erupted in the courtroom as the defense attorney insisted on referring to Angie as “Justin” or “he”, while the prosecution referred to her as “she”.
The video above shows coverage of the trial from earlier this week. The question that remains is what Andrade will be charged with. Since his defense concedes he is guilty, it’s now up to jurors to decide whether he will be charged with 1st degree murder — which will mean life in prison without parole — or a lesser charge.
Via / L.A. Times
From the Angie Zapata memorial that took place last night, comes this video (taken by Autumn Sandeen from Pam’s House Blend) of supporters talking about why they showed up at the memorial.
It’s a moving video, one that speaks of generations of violence and murder and love and tenderness and compassion. I hope we can all be as brave as the people on the video are–people who experience violence and fear, but still have the courage and strength to be vulnerable to love and compassion.
Colorado Fails to Support DREAMers
8:17 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Colorado| Education| Immigration| Politics| youth · Comments Off
7 Apr 2009
Last Week I wrote about how some states were pushing DREAM Act like measures through their legislatures. One of those states was Colorado. However yesterday, the dreams of undocumented students in The Centennial State were squashed thanks to Democrats in the state senate joining with Republicans to vote against the Immigrant Tuition Equity Bill.
Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, said that granting students who are illegal immigrants in-state tuition was like saying “if their parents robbed a bank, their kids could keep the money.”
Though the bill would require students who get the in-state tuition rate to sign an affidavit stating they would seek legal residency, Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, said the affidavit “is worth probably less than the paper it’s printed on.”
In hopes of attracting more Democratic votes, proponents added an amendment that said the bill would only become effective upon passage of the federal DREAM Act. That measure being considered in Congress would provide a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants who serve in the military or attend college in the United States.
It wasn’t enough. Democratic Sens. Morgan Carroll of Aurora, Jim Isgar of Hesperus, Moe Keller of Wheat Ridge, Linda Newell of Littleton and Lois Tochtrop of Thornton voted against the bill.
Carroll, after the debate, referred reporters to a statement on her website that said she could not support the bill “in a climate where the state is cutting or eliminating over $1 billion of benefits to the people and is facing a $300 million cut to higher education, which virtually ends higher education as we know it in the state of Colorado.”
Isgar and Tochtrop made similar comments about cuts to colleges, while Keller declined comment on her vote.
Newell, who was elected in November by a razor-thin margin, simply said “I listened to my constituents” when asked about her vote.
Angie Zapata Case to Go to Trial
1:01 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colorado| GLBT| Justice| Women| crime · Comments Off
19 Sep 2008
In July, we wrote about the horrific hate motivated killing of the young mujer Angie Zapata. Seems that the prosecutor in the case is ready to move forward with a trial.
According to Colorado’s KDRO-TV, alleged murderer Allen Ray Andrade was arraigned by Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow:A Weld County district judge ruled Thursday that there is enough evidence against a man charged with killing a transgender woman to proceed with a trial.
Thirty-one-year-old Allen Ray Andrade is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, felony motor vehicle theft, felony identity theft and bias-motivated crime in the death of Angie Zapata on July 17.
VivirLatino at the DNC 08 : Riding the Back of the Ghetto Bus in Denver
11:22 am By Maegan La Mala · Colorado| DNC| DNC08| Politics| denver · 10 Comments
27 Aug 2008
One blogger has criticized this website, with a personal attack on me and the use language and identity. Normally, I would unleash a stream of Spanish curses at my screen and move on, pero the reality of the Democratic National Convention against the reality of Denver ties it all together.
It’s all in the representation. Carlos attempted to do an incomplete post about the Latino (he puts the word in quotes) bloggers covering the convention. I say incomplete because he misses many Latino bloggers and other POC bloggers here covering not the speeches, that can be followed from a hotel room as well as from the “privileged” space of the credentialed blogger area, a room with a tv, but rather the extreme space between those spaces and the real, physical reality of Denver residents, especially residents of color.
Remembering Angie Zapata
9:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Colorado| GLBT| Women| crime · Comments Off
11 Aug 2008
While the papers run obits for Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes, much attention isn’t being paid to the violent killing of Angie Zapata.
Her community remembers her though, and by her community, I mean people who actually knew the woman, and people who were moved by her life and sadly the gruesome way her death was handled by the mainstream media.
“We never knew how dangerous this world is,” Zapata said, remembering her sister Angie Zapata, a transgender woman killed in Greeley in mid-July. “You are who you are and you should never be ashamed.”
Officials say Angie Zapata was the target of a hate crime after a man she was on a date with beat her to death with his fists and a fire extinguisher after learning she was biologically male, according to police. The man, Allen Ray Andrade, faces first-degree murder charges in connection with the death and charges of a bias-motivated crime — a felony.
Angie Zapata would have celebrated her 19th birthday last week.
“She always knew she was supposed to be a girl. And we knew it too,” Monica Zapata said. “Don’t remember her as transgendered but remember her as a beautiful, loving woman.”
Donna Rose of The Donna Blog was at a memorial service for Angie this past Saturday and posted moving photographs that everyone should see and reflect on.
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
- Nelson G.: Did Ruben show up? [...]
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s | VivirLatino: [...] America still painted as more transphobic than the good old U.S. of A, all we need to do is lo [...]
- Maegan La Mala: intellectual jism....ja ja. I love you [...]
- Maegan La Mala: Chip, Thanks for the info I will add this above. I don't have any other info about the Sunday vi [...]
- dr3373: Please join "Justice for Jorge Steven López - End Hate Crimes" on facebook: http://www.facebook. [...]
- Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
- Nadya Suleman Speaks Again
VivirLatino RSS Feed
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
- Nadya Suleman Speaks Again
- Update : Arrest Made in Murder of 19 Year Old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Organizations Asking Department of Justice to Intervene in Murder Case of Jorge Steven López Mercado
