Today, a candlelight vigil was held for two young men on the Anchorage Park Strip. No one attending had ever met either of the two boys, but around 20 people felt enough connection to them to stand in the cold for an hour and mourn their loss, and the losses that had come before.
You may not be familiar with the young men I’m talking about, so let me try to tell you a little about them as best I can.
Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was a 19 year old, Puerto Rican man whose friend Pedro Julio Serrano remembers him as being a “very very dear friend” and “was a person who you only needed one minute to fall in love with.” Mercado was an active volunteer for many gay causes, and seems to have had a wide group of friends. Below is a video put together by his friends an family, who want Jorge remembered for the wonderful person he was, and not by what happened to him. The majority of the text is in Spanish, but you can see from the pictures that he was cared for by many people.
Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was a 19 year old, Puerto Rican man whose body was found by the side of the road near Cayey, Puerto Rico. His body was brutalized, his arms were decapitated from his torso, and he was burned. The man who confessed to committing these acts is Juan Antonio Martinez Matos, a 26 year old man who has served time in prison in the past. Matos apparently picked Mercado up in a red light district, where Mercado was dressed as a woman. It is unclear as to when Matos made the decision to kill Mercado; some reports indicate that Mercado pulled a knife on Matos, other reports say that it was only after they started having sex that Matos realized that Mercado was biologically male. Whatever the case, Matos says that he had a flashback to when he had been raped in prison, and then attacked Mercado. It seems astonishing to me that a “gay panic” excuse may be used to justify the brutality that was visited on Jorge Mercado’s body after he was killed.
Juan Mercado’s mother, Miriam, released this statement after his death:
“When my son told me he was gay, I told him, ‘Now, I love you more.’ I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son.”– Miriam”When my son told me he was gay, I told him, ‘Now, I love you more.’ I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son.”
Jason Mattison Jr. was a 15 year old sophmore at West Baltimore’s Vivian T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy. His English teacher, Ryan C. Jones, remembers how Jason handled harassment. “[Jason] had a sharp, witty comeback at the ready, and he walked away smiling. Even if it hurt him, he gave the other person the impression he was stronger. He was outspoken and excited about everything he talked about,” Jones said. “Walking into school, he was the first one to share what he did over the weekend. He was very, very popular, and he was everyone’s best friend.”
Jason Mattison Jr. was a 15 year old sophmore whose body was found brutalized, gagged, and stuffed in the upstairs closet of his aunt’s house on November 10. There was initial confusion as to what had happened, as his aunt discovered a T.V. missing and thought that someone had broken in to steal it. After seeing blood on the banister leading upstairs, she called the police and reported Jason missing. He was found gagged with a pillowcase and he had received multiple stab wounds to his head and neck. The man who has confessed to these acts is Dante Parrish, a 35 year old man who is charged with first-degree murder in the case. He was a longtime family friend of Jason’s cousin, Laquanna Couplin, but she would not say whether he lived there or visited. It is also unclear as to whether Jason was living in his aunt’s house, or if he was just visiting when he was attacked. Dante Parrish has a history of violence, described here:
“Parrish was 24 when he pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a man on Maryland Avenue in March 1999. In 2008, the Innocence Project, a group of attorneys who help people they believe were wrongly convicted, took up his case.
They found that Parrish had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder based on a faulty statement of facts read into the court record – there were two witnesses, not three, and a gun was found weeks after the shooting, not with Parrish when he was arrested.
A judge overturned his conviction, citing ineffective defense counsel, and in January, Parrish entered what is called an Alford plea, which allowed him to deny guilt but concede that the state had enough evidence to convict him. He was freed on time served, effectively cutting a 30-year sentence to 10.
Whether Parrish went from prison to live at the rowhouse on Llewellyn Avenue or frequented it could not be determined. Couplin would not elaborate beyond confirming that the man was a longtime family friend.”
Reports indicate that Jason had a “forced sexual relationship” with Parrish, but I was unable to find conclusive statements as to how long this may have been going on, or if Jason’s family knew about it. I was also unable to find a statement given as to why Parrish murdered Jason.
I want to tell you about one more person.
Don’t worry, this one has a happy ending.
Christopher Narvaez standing up for equal rights in the Summer of '09
Christopher Narvaez is a 35 year old Alaskan resident who moved here from New York. John and I met him over the Summer when we were fighting for the Equal Rights Ordinance that passed the Assembly, and was then vetoed by Mayor Sullivan. Chris is a very genuine person, always happy to talk to new people and make them feel comfortable. He and his partner share a loving home and support each other while they both try to balance school and work. Chris struck me as an amazingly patient person when I watched him try to talk to the people in red shirts out on the Loussac Library lawn. He took the time to talk to them, to listen to what they had to say,
Christopher Narvaez reading statement from the victims' families
and then express why he was there. Chris was fired from his job because he was gay, and because he wouldn’t quietly put up with the harassment that his co-workers found acceptable. He has always struck me as the type of person who could find the positive side to any situation, and that is how he became involved with a vigil for two people that he had never met before.
Inspired by these two recent hate crimes, vigils have sprung up across the country to mark the tragedy that those in the GLBT community and their allies have experienced. We may not have ever met these young men, but we know others who have been abused and mistreated. We sympathize with the loss of their family and friends. We wanted to mourn with them.
Trying to keep the flame going.
Chris organized the Candlelight Vigil for Hate Crime Victims, which took place this afternoon at 3pm. He got a permit for the space on the parkstrip and sent out invitations through facebook within the space of two days. He organized the vigil, reading statements about Jason and Jorge from their friends. He brought candles for people to hold, and walked around the crowd, re-lighting the wicks almost as soon as the wind blew them out. Anchorage, and Alaska, is lucky to have such a dedicated person like Chris. I know that John and I are proud to know him, and to have been a part of this gathering.
Candlelight Vigil for Hate Crime Victims
The last thought that I will leave you with is that while many of you are already aware that these actions could easily happen here in our community, some of you, especially those who don’t identify as a part of the GLBT community may not understand the implications. Both of these young men were loved and accepted by their friends and family. They had support from those around them. They were still victimized. GLBT people will not be safe until they can have the full protection of the law. Those of use who are allies must help them. We must continue to be involved in the community, because they still need us. We need to speak out and loudly to support those legislators that support equal rights, so that they are not replaced by more puppets of the Anchorage Baptist Temple and those who share their hate. The fight for equality continues, even though the ordinance was vetoed.
Those people that attended the vigil today can attest to it. I can attest to it. The fight will continue until we all can be safe.
Let's all try to keep the flame going.
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