May 01, 2009  |  By: Chris Johnson  | COMMENTS     

A Colorado jury’s conviction of the man who murdered a transgender woman is a bittersweet moment for activists and the victim’s family, who are hoping while mourning that some good can come from the tragedy.

On April 22, Allen Andrade of Thorton, Colo., was convicted of first-degree murder and a hate crime for killing Angie Zapata, who was transgender, by beating her to death with a fire extinguisher in her Greeley, Colo., apartment.

Defense attorneys argued that Andrade, 32, killed Zapata, 18, while in a sort of “trans-panic” mindset after they agreed to meet for sex and he discovered she was transgender. But prosecutors argued that the murder was premeditated and Andrade murdered Zapata because he hated LGBT people.

The case marks the first time in the country that a hate crimes statute has been used in the conviction of someone who killed a transgender person.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said her organization is “pleased that this horrendous crime against Angie Zapata was taken very seriously by the local authorities and that they treated Angie with the respect she deserves.”

“It wasn’t that long ago — and in some places it still isn’t true — but there they did take this seriously,” she said. “They did understand that Angie was human. They understood that this was a horrible crime.”

Following the conviction, Gonzola Zapata, Angie Zapata’s brother, made a tearful statement to the media about the memory of his sister as other members of her family embraced him.

“We loved her very much, and we will miss her every day,” he said. “Every day and every night our mom has to deal with [the] great pain of … one of her babies being buried. Every day, our siblings and I reach for the phone and realize we’ll never hear her voice. There’s no answer anymore.”

As he concluded his statement, Gonzola Zapata, who was unavailable for comment, said the use of the hate crimes statute in the conviction “was a message sent loud and clear that crimes targeting LGBT will not be tolerated in Colorado.”

Gonzola Zapata called on Congress to pass federal hate crimes legislation that would include LGBT people across the country.

“In memory of Angie, we call on Colorado’s leaders to pass a federal hate crime law to protect everyone,” he said.

On April 23, the day following Andrade’s conviction, the House Judiciary Committee voted 15-12 to favorably report legislation that would allow the U.S. Justice Department to aid and take the lead in prosecutions of hate crimes throughout the country. The bill, H.R. 1913, was scheduled for a House floor vote on Wednesday.

Keisling said she didn’t know whether Angie Zapata’s death would have any impact on lawmakers considering the federal legislation.

But she said activists and lawmakers have been “fairly optimistic” about the bill’s passage for some time and noted that Zapata’s murder is “one of the hundreds and thousands” of hate crimes that have happened to transgender people.

Sharon Staple, executive director of the New York City-based Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, said the conviction shows how states with hate crimes statues can effectively prosecute hate crimes.

“Colorado has definitely taken the lead in taking a firm stand against tolerating violence against transgender folks and using the state hate crimes law to make sure that people who are acting on anti-transgender bias are convicted for that,” she said.

But Staple said there’s a need for statutory requirements for training and educating law enforcement officials and the courts in the prosecution of hate crimes. Staple said Colorado’s law lacks these provisions.

“The reality is, in most states, including Colorado, it falls on the part of the local anti-violence programs to be providing most of the education on this issue,” she said. “Most local anti-violence programs don’t have the capacity right now to do the kind of education and training that’s necessary.”

The hate crimes legislation making its way through Congress has provisions that would enable the federal government to make grants available to state and local communities to train law enforcement officials, combat hate crimes committed by juveniles and investigate bias-motivated violence.

But while activists are also hoping that media coverage of Angie Zapata’s murder would give more visibility to hate crimes and transgender issues, some are saying the quality of media coverage was lacking.

Keisling said media coverage of the trial was for the most part appropriate, but she said some national radio talk show hosts early on “were especially inhumane.”

“There were a couple early on who ...