Thoughts about a Death
It started with an e-mail query. “Do you know anything about this?” The link was to the Greeley Independent newspaper online edition. The story was about a young man murdered in his apartment. I did not know anything about the story or the person who had his head broken in two places. It was the next e-mail that cleared things up for me. The reporter had a couple of errors in the story; the name and gender of the victim. It was Angie Zapata, a woman, who was murdered. As I read her name I felt a certain chill and sadness that only happens when I learn of something like this. I will not speculate why the reporter and editor had the name and gender incorrect from the start and refused to use Angie’s correct name even after her mother asked them too. A young woman’s dreams are gone now. Her family is devastated, their dreams are gone now. Her mother is inconsolable right now. A community and city are shocked by this brutal and horrific crime. Healing of family and community will start sometime, but for now the pain is still too sharp. The affects of this crime goes well beyond Greeley. This crime was against a person of minority communities; those in the Latina community would know her. Those in the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community would know her. She was a transgender woman. The affects of this murder have travelled around Colorado, around the U.S. and now are worldwide.
She was pretty but different; this is the most probably reason for her murder. Killed - because of hate. Of course we will not know until her killer is caught and tried the reason for the hate. But, from other murders of transgender people there is a common reason. Hate of who you are. Aurora is a much larger and more diverse city than Greeley. That does not protect Aurora from hate crimes any more than it did Greeley last week. Crimes like that care not about the city they happen in or who will be affected. Only the killer or killers revel in what they have done. Aurora is home to many wonderfully varied minorities, including people of the GLBT community. Of the 30,000 or so GLBT citizens living here the death of Angie is a hard reminder of what does happen in crimes of hate. It is a striking reminder to transgender people that brutal murder is an unwanted part of life. This type of crime lets everybody know what a crime of hate really is. Angie was a beautiful young woman who will never live her dreams. I am asking my fellow citizens of Aurora to do a couple of things with me. Offer a little prayer for a young woman who is no longer able to. And, share carrying her dreams with me.