cross posted from flip flopping joy

Mamita Mala over at Vivir Latino has a very important post up about the Angie Zapata trail and outcome (verdict, guilty on all counts).

Speaking of silencing, Pam has another great post about how mainstream GLB media didn’t report on the case or the trial.

Is a recently murdered Angie Zapata viewed as less useful to the cause than Matthew Shepard, for instance? Does the lurid nature of the heinous crime make it appear less sympathetic in some way to media decisionmakers, who feel mainstream (read: straight) audiences will identify less with a Latina transgender victim than one who is a blond gay white young man? Honestly, if it’s the latter, you’d get no one to admit it anyway, because, well, that would be callous, right?

This led to many LGB media tripping over themselves to apologize for not covering the case.
Autumn did a great job covering the trial and deserves all the props she’s gotten.
Pero on the same tip where was the Latino media, both mainstream and not in covering Angie’s story? The Latino blogosphere and Latino orgs jump on stories when an immigrant is killed or attacked in a hate crime. Where were orgs like the NCLR and where are their statements? Are we as Latinos still so uncomfortable, still so transphobic that we can’t discuss, report, speak on cases like Angie’s? Was she not as much a part of the Latino community as Marcelo Lucero for example.

Just as LGBT media and orgs cannot ignore or scapegoat the Latino community when it comes to issues like marriage equity, Latino media and orgs cannot ignore how homophobia and transphobia, however internalized, allow us to not give the same weight to the death of a trans latina mujer as we give to a racist hate crime.

As I said on twitter yesterday, I am feeling sorta empty and confused and happy and weirded out about this whole thing. I can’t feel happy that yet another Latino human being is being thrown in jail forever–but as somebody else said THANK GOD that for just fucking ONCE the necessity of the life of a beautiful woman is affirmed. But at the same time–are any of these verdicts going to make life for trans people safer? The answer is no–more tragic news from Stacey shows this.

And the most tragic thing of all–not one woman, not one man, will ever come back ever–no matter what verdict comes out.

We must not put all our efforts into trusting the court system. The court system followed through this one time–but even if it follows through every single time from now on–I don’t want that kind of justice–I want living breathing human beings type of justice. I want Angie here surrounded by her family, I want Gwen here in her mothers arms, I want laughter and love and kisses and flirting and pictures with nephews and more and more and more.

Justice in safety.
Justice in life.