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Following Colorado Attack |
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Compiled By GayToday National Transgender Advocacy Coalition
Denver, Colorado--Denver news sources report that 17-year-old April Mora is recovering from an attack lastTuesday by four men who used razor blades to carve gay slurs into her arms and abdomen.
The word "dyke" was cut into Mora's forearm, and the initials "R.I.P." were cut into her abdomen. The details of the story suggest that Mora was targeted because of her gender expression and perceived sexual orientation. "I don't look like a girl," she said. As a result, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) is strongly urging passage of the current proposal to expand Colorado's Ethnic Intimidation Law to a Bias-Motivated Crimes Law. The proposed legislation, as written, would cover "sexual orientation" and "gender Identity". "Less than a year after the horrendous murder of F. C. Martinez in Cortez, Colorado, April Mora is attacked and brutalized because of her gender nonconformity and perceived sexual orientation," said Yoseñio V. Lewis, board chair of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition. Enactment of the proposed legislation, Lewis continued, would "send a message to potential victimizers that Americans do not endorse this brand of domestic terrorism." Mora said the four men, all of whom she described as being about 18-years-old, started to harass her as she walked down an alley behind her house around 2pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2002. "I was looking at [their car], and they said, 'Look at that dyke.' And I guess I looked at them in the wrong way," Mora said. "[They were] calling me a dyke and [saying], 'Why were you looking at me like this?' and I was lucky that they didn't rape me." Police currently have no suspects in the attack and are counting on Mora to provide information for creating composite sketches. They are searching the neighborhood and treating the investigation as an assault. Whether the attack will be considered a hate crime is yet undetermined. Only Minnesota, California, Vermont, Missouri, and the District of Columbia have hate crime laws that include crimes motivated by gender identity or gender expression. Currently, 27 states include sexual orientation as a protected category in their hate-crimes statutes. Colorado is one of 23 states that do not. A bipartisan effort is underway to change that. Colorado Sen. Penfield Tate (D) and Rep. Mark Larson (R) are sponsoring a bill (SB02-009) that would expand Colorado's existing hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity as well as age and disability. Current law includes only race and religion. Larson is both a resident, and House Representative of the district covering Cortez -- the location of the murder of F. C. Martinez, Jr. last June. The proposed legislation would change the name of the crime from "ethnic intimidation" to "bias-motivated crime." It would also direct judges to consider certain sentencing options and encourage each law enforcement agency to implement written policies, procedures, and training specifically designed to address bias-motivated crimes.
"With the September 11 events, all of us have discovered what it is to sense the reality of fear that someone, somewhere, in some manner can and may strike us." All Coloradans regardless of age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, "deserve the best efforts of this state to declare that intimidating, harassing or targeting persons, or their property because of their personal identity takes away their right to freedom from fear," Mowry said. "This attack was not only intended to harm April Mora," added Lewis of NTAC, "but to send a message to all gender variant Americans that they should live in fear of being targeted for harassment and violence." This attack underscores the need for Coloradans to support measures such as SB02-009 which would provide for enhanced penalties to help deter bias-motivated crimes. |
