Jorge and Will: Tragedy and Hope - by: Kate Kendell - The Bilerico Project

This week two stories collided: The story of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado and the story of Will Phillips. On November 14 the decapitated, dismembered, and burned body of Jorge Steven Lopez was found by the side of the road in Cayey, Puerto Rico. Jorge was 19 and openly gay. He was much loved by his wide circle of friends. He was handsome and hopeful. He had his whole life ahead of him.

While Puerto Rico does not have any history of prosecuting hate crimes, it is clear to many that there is no other explanation for the savagery of Jorge's murder. The response of the police agent investigating the crime betrayed an appalling level of homophobia and bigotry. In a televised statement, the investigator noted that "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen." This so-called "investigator" should be fired and never allowed to wear a uniform which implies he protects anyone, ever.

It is impossible to imagine the pain of Jorge's family and friends. The shock of his murder has stunned the LGBT community in Puerto Rico. Jorge's murder is the direct result of prejudice, ignorance, and bigotry that still dominate life for so many LGBT people around the globe. For many, daily insults, fear, and brutality are a way of life. Compounding this untenable situation is the fact that the very officials empowered to protect our LGBT brothers and sisters either turn a blind eye, are complicit in the terror, or actually perpetrate the attacks. Hearing these stories is almost more than a heart can bear.

On the day I heard about Jorge's horrific killing, I also read the story of Will Phillips. Read complete article – by Kate Kendell The Bilerico Project

Related links:

DISMEMBERED BODY of 19-year-old college student Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado - SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -> Benedict XVI & His Hierarchy RESPONSIBLE

Will Phillips Arkansas Fifth Grader Refuses to Pledge Allegiance until LGBT people are Equal – planetransgender – Kelli Busey

A boy and his flag - Why Will won’t pledge. By David Koon Arkansas Times

Gruesome murder of gay teen in Puerto Rico

DECAPITATED, DISMEMBERED & BURNED BODY of 19 yr old college student Jorge S Lopez Mercado, Puerto Rico -> Benedict XVI & His Hierarchy RESPONSIBLE

Photo Task Force

Suspect charged with murder in slaying of gay teenager in Puerto Rico

MIKE MELIA - Associated Press Writer - November 18, 2009 - The Baltimore Sun

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Murder charges were filed Wednesday in the slaying of a gay teenager whose decapitated, partially burned body was found last week, while U.S. authorities said they were still considering whether to make it a hate crime case.

Gay activists expressed disappointment that the suspect wasn't immediately charged with a hate crime, saying authorities in Puerto Rico have never invoked a law covering crimes based on sexual orientation.

The dismembered body of 19-year-old college student Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was discovered Friday along a road in the interior town of Cayey. Lopez was widely known as a volunte

er for organizations advocating HIV prevention and gay rights, and activists are planning remembrance vigils for him in cities including San Juan, New York and Chicago.

The suspect, 26-year-old Juan Martinez Matos, was arrested earlier this week and allegedly confessed to killing Lopez and mutilating his body. He was charged with first-degree murder and weapons violations and jailed on $4 million bond.

It could not be immediately determined if Martinez was represented by an attorney.

Martinez met Lopez while looking for women Thursday night in an area known for prostitution, according to prosecutor Jose Bermudez Santos. Bermudez said the suspect confessed to stabbing Lopez, who was dressed as a woman, after discovering he was a man.

"He has a deep-seated rage," Bermudez said in remarks reported by the newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

"All the information we have is very clear that this is indeed a hate crime," said Pedro Julio Serrano, a Puerto Rico native who is a spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Read complete article – by MIKE MELIA - Associated Press Writer – The Baltimore Sun

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OutSpoken - Task Force speaks out on brutal killing in Puerto Rico

By Task Force staff, November 17, 2:00 pm

The Task Force is speaking out on the brutal murder of Jorge Steven López, a 19-year-old gay man in Puerto Rico, in a possible hate crime.

A suspect has reportedly been arrested.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

“The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stands in solidarity with the LGBT community in Puerto Rico and sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jorge Steven López. We urge local law enforcement authorities to continue their expedient work on this case. Fortunately, Puerto Rico has a local hate crimes statute, but it is imperative that federal authorities continue to monitor this ongoing investigation and step in if necessary or assist if asked, as allowed by the new federal hate crimes law.”

Statement by Pedro Julio Serrano, Task Force Communications Manager; Founder, Puerto Rico Para Tod@s

“This is a terrible, terrible crime. While we are pleased that law enforcement has acted promptly in making an arrest, it is vital that the hate crimes angle be investigated. This horrendous killing of a young gay man shows no compassion or respect for the dignity of a human life. As someone who grew up in Puerto Rico and has been very active in its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, this is a heart-wrenching moment. Our hearts and sympathies go out to all of Jorge Steven López’s loved ones at this difficult time. Justice must prevail.” Read more - By Task Force staff - Task Force

Silence = Sin *** Bringing The Light Of Truth To the Darkness Of Hypocrisy – Church Outing.org

Help End the Cycle of Spiritual Abuse

This site was created to provide you with an outlet to save LGBT children from the hypocrisy of priests in the Archdiocese of Washington who engage in romantic and sexual relationships, and yet stand silent while Archbishop Wuerl and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops increase their dogmatic war against all LGBT children of God. If you know that one of the priests in the Archdiocese is gay, or having a heterosexual affair, please share your story.

Why Church Outing?

Every Sunday, for generations, hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian American Catholic youth are told in church, they need to be ashamed of who they are and are deemed to live loveless lives as social and religious abominations. The emotional, psychological and spiritual pain inflicted on them by Catholic priests and our church hierarchy is more damaging than any level of physical or sexual child abuse that is quickly condemned in our society.

More shameful is that this abuse is being inflicted by men, many of whom are gay themselves, leading closeted lives of self-persecution and quiet desperation.

Most shameful, is that many of these priests, while remaining silent, lead dual lives filled with romantic and sexual relationships.

As America grows closer to establishing full civil equality for LGBT citizens and our families, the Church hierarchy's attacks against all LGBT children of God increases. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, under the directive of Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, is meeting to issue a new pastoral letter to every parish priest, demanding they speak out against LGBT equality and to raise money for political efforts to deny recognition of gay and lesbian families in civil law… Read complete article and Learn more - Silence = Sin *** Bringing The Light Of Truth To the Darkness Of Hypocrisy – ChurchOuting.org

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“US Conference of Catholic Bishops” Under The Directives of Benedict XVI Disregard the Truth of The Bible and Science, Repeating Harm Done to Galileo

Gay Catholic group urges D.C. to defy church - By LOU CHIBBARO JR. – SOUTHERN VOICE

Lawmakers defy church pressure on DC gay marriage - By The Associated Press – 365gay.com

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Gay Catholics, the Courage Apostolate, and Reparative Therapy – by MICHAEL J. BAYLY – The Wild Reed

"SILENCING TRUTH">Bishop Gumbleton denied entry to Marquette (Upper Peninsula of Michigan USA) Diocese by Bishop Alexander K. Sample

Detroit - Bishop Thomas Gumbleton - SILENCED - February 2007

MARRIAGE EQUALITY Same As “Galileo Condemned As Heretic By The Vatican” Both Misinterpretations Of The Bible -> Maine 2009 & All Of New England

Psychologists Say Sexual Orientation Cannot Be Changed - By ERIC ANTHONY GROLLMAN (M.A.) – Kinsey Confidential

DISMEMBERED BODY of 19-year-old college student Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado - SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -> Benedict XVI & His Hierarchy RESPONSIBLE

Will Phillips Arkansas Fifth Grader Refuses to Pledge Allegiance until LGBT people are Equal – planetransgender – Kelli Busey

A boy and his flag - Why Will won’t pledge. By David Koon Arkansas Times

Gruesome murder of gay teen in Puerto Rico

Jorge and Will: Tragedy and Hope - by: Kate Kendell - The Bilerico Project

CRISIS: 40 STORIES REVEALING THE PERSONAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS PAIN AND TRAUMA OF GROWING UP GAY IN AMERICA - Mitchell Gold

No - USA CIVIL LAWS - To Protect CHILDREN From Harmful Influence of - Vatican's Unsubstantiated ANTIGAY TEACHINGS - by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz

Impending rules on gay priests create Catholic divide – by Charles Honey – The Grand Rapids Press – October 8, 2005 * Benedict XVI -> SILENCING TRUTH

To Be Catholic or Not To be Catholic - by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz

Maine Bishop Fights Marriage Equality - By Julie Bolcer - Advocate.com & Bangor Daily News

Religion, science and public policy – To The Point – PRI Public Radio International

04 November, 2009

Download audio (mp3)

Almost half of Americans believe the evolutionary science is incompatible with religious teachings -- how this impacts issues like global warming.

The following is a partial transcript; for full story, listen to audio.

When he announced that the Earth goes around the Sun, Galileo was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. But that was 400 years ago. The modern Vatican, conservative though it is, has argued that Christian faith and science are not at odds after all, but compatible and complementary, especially regarding Darwin's theory of Evolution. 



Traditional Protestants are fine with that, but almost half of Americans believe that the book of Genesis is incompatible with "The Origin of Species." What are the consequences for dealing with global warming, pandemic disease and stem cell research?


John Haught, Senior Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center has a simple answer: Don't look to the Bible for answers to scientific questions; look to the Bible for answers to other kinds of questions.



"The Catholic Church itself has emphasized and learned its lesson from Galileo, but Pope Leo XIII ... instructed Catholics not to look to the Bible for scientific information, and that simple instruction really serves to prevent a lot of needless anxiety about trying to map onto the Bible the picture of cosmic development that modern cosmology and evolutionary theory, geology has given us.



"So just don't look to the Bible for scientific information; look for other kinds of truths. For example, in Genesis you look for answers to questions such as, 'why is there anything at all, rather than nothing; why should we trust in life; is there a basis for hope and confidence in the future?' Those are the kinds of questions that Biblical text needs to respond to, not scientific questions."



Gerald McKenny, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Notre Dame University, is one of the organizers of a three-day conference on the subject of science and religion. He is trying to present a position on science and its relationship to faith.



"We think that in the past understandings of evolution, due to certain evolutionary theory and the ways in which they were usually presented, made it difficult for many people in the fields like theology, philosophy and even the social sciences, to look to evolutionary biology as a source of truth," said McKenny. "It seemed to be telling us things about human nature, for example, that made it difficult to understand humans in all their fullness. But we think there are a number of changes that have occurred in biological sciences, evolutionary theory in particular, in recent years that open up new dialogs for science and theology, science and humanities and so forth." …Read complete article or listen to Download audio (mp3) - To The Point – PRI Public Radio International