*Angie Zapata
It’s a mixed-mood news story–today Allen Andrade was convicted of first degree, bias-motivated murder in Colorado for killing 18 year-old transgendered woman Angie Zapata. CNN is reporting that this is the first time in our nation’s history that such hate crimes legislation has been enacted in a conviction. Completely appalling if you think about all the harassment transgendered people endure. Currently, only 11 states and DC recognize transgendered people in their hate crime laws. 11 is less than 1/4th!! We have a long way to go, with this fight people. Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming DO NOT HAVE ANY HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION BASED ON ANY BIAS. None. Not race, not gender, not religious. WTF. This site has a nice breakdown of which states have what.
UPDATE: angiezapata.com is a website dedicated to her memory and is regularly updated with twitters and blog posts about Angie’s short life.
