Nationwide Vigils Held for Slain Gay Puerto Rican Teen

Thousands attended a vigil last night at Pier 46 on the edge of New York's West Village. Similar vigils took place in cities around the country in response to the murder of Puerto Rican gay teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado. Last weekend the decapitated, dismembered, and partially charred body of gay teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was found by the side of a road in Puerto Rico. The police investigator suggested that he deserved what he got because of the "type of lifestyle" he was leading. Juan Martinez Matos has been charged with first-degree murder for Mercado's death.

In NYC, Christine Quinn, Council member-elect Danny Dromm, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios, and fashion designer Malan Breton spoke to the crowd.

Watch a news report and video from New York City, and a wrap-up of San Francisco's event, from Sean Chapin, AFTER THE JUMP...

Previously...
Nationwide Vigils Planned as Officials Mull Application of Federal Hate Crimes Law [tr]
Puerto Rican Teen's Killer Says Murder was 'Gay Panic', Self Defense [tr]
Suspect Arrested in Horrific Murder of Puerto Rican Gay Teen [tr]
Gay Puerto Rican Teen Decapitated, Dismembered, and Burned [tr]

NYC City Council Speaker Quinn Urges Marriage Equality Vote

Openly gay NYC City Council speaker Christine Quinn was asked at a press conference this morning about the potential for a vote on marriage equality by the State Senate tomorrow.

"It's an incredibly important piece of legislation...If the bill is voted on and passed tomorrow, a week after a referendum passed in Maine that took rights away from the residents of Maine...if seven days after that the New York State Senate stands up and says all New York families are equal, what a message that sends about what we believe as a state."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

New Yorkers Oppose Anti-Gay Maine Vote, Look Ahead to NY

New Yorkers held a rally in Union Square last night opposing the anti-gay vote in Maine on Tuesday, and looking ahead to next week, when Governor David Paterson has promised to call a special session of the state senate.

Watch OurSceneTV's report on the rally, AFTER THE JUMP...

According to Gay City News, both Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan van Capelle and State Senator Tom Duane are still confident about a vote on marriage equality:

"Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), the state’s LGBT lobby group, and out gay Chelsea Democratic Senator Thomas K. Duane, the measure’s lead sponsor, both reiterated their confidence in the wake of an election in which a Republican marriage equality supporter was forced from an upstate congressional race and voters in Maine narrowly opted to repeal the gay marriage law there. 'Based on my conversations with senators, they are planning on being in Albany next week,' said Van Capelle. 'That said, the governor is still required to issue an extraordinary session calendar. Our community should rest assured we have full commitment from the governor that the marriage equality bill will be on the very first calendar.' ... In a statement issued late in the day on November 4, Duane said, 'I have so much confidence that New York will soon be the next state to enact marriage equality. I strongly believe that my colleagues from both sides of the aisle will step up and do the right thing.' Since the spring, Duane has consistently said he has the votes –– among them, as yet unnamed Republicans –– to ensure passage of the marriage bill."

More at Gay City News on the impact of Maine and the NY 23rd  district Congressional race.

Watch OurSceneTV's report on the NYC rally, AFTER THE JUMP...

Man Gay Bashed in NYC, Claims NYPD Negligent in Response

WPLJ DJ Blake Hayes reported that he and his friends (Broadway performer Danny Calvert and another friend) were walking down 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen when they were attacked in an anti-gay assault outside McCoy's Bar.

Writes Hayes:

"Walking down this usual block, a friend turned when a lit cigarette butt was thrown at him.  'Keep moving, faggot.'  We all stopped, shocked to hear these words in what is normally such an accepting, gay-friendly neighborhood, in New York, such an open-minded city. We exchanged words, more and more heated, until he started to approach us, threatening violence.  Before we knew it, he had thrown one friend against a car, denting it.  The other took two punches to the face, cutting his lip before the bouncer at McCoy's came out and stopped him. We called the police.  They arrived -- 5 cops or so, from at least 2 cars. They talked to the guy who assaulted us. They asked us what happened.  We recounted the story. The cops -- the NYPD -- did NOTHING.  They wouldn't even take the guy's information so we could file a claim later, or even run the plates of the car whose body was dented from him throwing my friend into it.  'They're NJ plates, we can't do anything.'"

According to Hayes, the bouncer who restrained the attacker allowed him back into McCoy's shortly after the police left.

Towleroad obtained a statement released by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn regarding the attack. Says Quinn:

"Early Saturday morning there was a report of an anti-LGBT attack in Hell’s Kitchen in which two individuals were the victims of a physical assault. I am obviously outraged by news that another bias attack has occurred in our city. But I am also deeply concerned by reports from the victims that NYPD officers responding to the scene did not appropriately recognize the seriousness of the incident. In fact, it has been reported that they failed to attempt to apprehend or even to collect contact information from the alleged assailant. If these reports are true, the behavior of the police officers involved was also outrageous and merits swift action by the police department.

Statement and post continued, AFTER THE JUMP...

NY Politicos: Bloomberg Wrong About Marriage Equality's Chances

Earlier this week, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg told Gay City News that the chances of marriage equality happening in New York were "zero, zero".

Said Bloomberg: "I don’t know how to get it to come up [ on the Senate floor]. If you want my honest opinion, [the Senate leadership is unlikely to move a gay marriage bill] when I don’t see these guys willing to stand up for less controversial issues."

Now, three prominent New York politicians and a gay rights leader have stated just the opposite — that marriage equality may very well be up for a vote this fall.

Bloomberg's Democratic opponent, comptroller William Thompson, responded: "Once again Mike Bloomberg is talking out of both sides of his mouth. The fact of the matter is Mike will stand up in press conferences and talk the talk but at the end of the day he never walks the walk. Mike Bloomberg has consistently supported the Republican Party and its anti-gay marriage agenda."

State Senator Thomas Duane said: "As far as I know, the mayor hasn’t been in on any discussions with Senate Democrats or with Senate Republicans on strategy for getting marriage passed. There have been people involved with his administration that I’ve talked with and others may have spoken to, but I don’t know of the mayor personally speaking to anyone. I remain confident it will get done this fall...His offer to come testify is the easiest political commitment to make, but the time for hearings is past. I held hearings on the bill years ago. I can’t say he’s expended much political capital on this."

Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan van Capelle was equally dismissive of Bloomberg's remarks: "We don’t agree with Mayor Bloomberg’s statement that marriage equality does not have a chance of coming up for a vote this fall. The mayor is focused on New York City and his race for re-election, and not on the details involved in moving the marriage bill forward in Albany. We know from the work that we do daily on this issue that marriage equality is still very much in play in 2009.”

And NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn chimed in as well: "I disagree with the mayor. I do believe that there is a real potential and a very real potential in the near future...If I knew exactly when [the measure would move] I would probably know who was going to win the trifecta at Belmont. I don’t see any reason to think that there is not potential to have this vote."

Bloomberg also claimed in the interview that he could sway key GOP Senators (specifically Brooklyn’s Martin Golden and Queens’ Frank Padavan) to make a 'yes' vote when marriage equality comes to the floor, however, Gay City News reports that Padavan's office says that the Senator and the mayor have not had any discussions about the issue.

The Empire State Pride Agenda recently launched a new 'Call Your Senator' campaign. Hope lives.

Duane, Thompson, Come Out Swinging on Bloomberg Comments [gay city news]

News: Bill Clinton, Twitter, Seattle, Koala, Grizzly Bear, Akron

Sam the Australian brushfire poster boy Koala has died.

Uncle Donald's Castro Street, one of the best sites for archival SF Castro 70's material and history, has just added a gallery on photographer Efren Ramirez.

Guess who's filling in for Paula Abdul on American Idol?

Gay cop settles harassment suit with Millville, NJ for $415,000: "As part of the deal, Robert Colle has resigned from the Millville police force. He had been on leave since August 2007. Colle sued in October 2007, claiming he was ridiculed by the man who was then chief and other officers because he's gay."

Empire State Pride Agenda endorses Christine Quinn for City Council re-election.

Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal hit with DoS attacks.

Could next British PM be gay? "The formation of British governments and their dissolutions is something few Americans understand, but there is growing buzz in the press that Peter Mandelson, the openly gay First Secretary of State in the Labor Party government of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, may be positioning himself to take the top job should the increasingly unpopular Brown step down before the next national election."

Tiger Woods fart-gate scandal explained.

True Blood stars getting married.

Ben Tousley, the graphic designer behind the band Grizzly Bear, talks shop (warning - site possibly nsfw).

Gay Florida sheriff's deputy accused of preying on illegal immigrants: "Jonathan Bleiweiss, 29, allegedly targeted the immigrants because they were afraid to go to the police, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said, citing the records released Tuesday. Authorities say he scared at least eight different men he pulled over during traffic stops into performing sex acts with him, and demanded their phone numbers and contact information."

Brendan Tapley: Hate crimes, and the coming masculinity.

British photographer Matthew Lewis takes his own life.

Hillary Clinton offered 40 goats and 20 cows for Chelsea Clinton's hand in marriage.

Sam Worthington worthy of Esquire's September cover.

Police investigating hate crime in Seattle: "The first victim suffered two black eyes, a laceration to the bridge of the nose, and a bruise on his lower back from his right kidney area to his hip. The second victim was listed as having sustained a deep contusion to his chest. The victims were able to provide partial descriptions of the three men and two women."

Stay in the lines: a Grey Gardens coloring book.

Bill Clinton used "vast web of financial and political contacts" to secure release of journalists from North Korea: "In the case of the detainees, Clinton tapped wealthy business people to execute a mission that, without a special federal waiver for the aircraft to travel to North Korea, would have been illegal."

Gay ex-Mormon is Paris Hilton's new BFF.

REPORT: Gay man assaulted at abortion clinic in Akron, Ohio. "Charles Wright, a 50-year-old gay man and former vice-president of Cleveland’s National Organization for Women, regularly escorts women into the Akron Women’s Medical Group, along with his partner, Tom Reke. Women seeking care are often confronted by hostile right-wing protesters opposed to a women’s right to choose. But on July 18, things became violent when Wright was physically assaulted by one of the right-wingers, who broke six of Wright’s ribs. The assailant, whose name is unknown, is a member of the extreme-right religious group Jericho Riders Motorcycle Ministry, which regularly preaches homophobic and anti-women rhetoric."