Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Was Mercado a sex worker? Does it matter?
For about three beats I thought about writing something about the whole Adam Lambert mess; however, my eyes quickly glazed over and decided it best to leave the shocked sensibilities of the blue-haired ladies be.
Approximately a week ago there were vigils for the deaths of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado and Jason “Jaysen” Mattison Jr. The culprit in the Mattison death is being held without bail and Mercado’s alleged killer has confessed to the crime. But he said he met the young man in a place known for female prostitutes and went into a murderous rage after Mercado took off his dress and revealed he was a man.
At last week’s New York rally Mercado’s alleged sex work was hinted at, but there is a question if it’s even true.
“None of Jorge Steven’s friends, and I’ve spoken to many of them, knew anything about his ever having engaged in sex work, not his family, and not the police,” said gay activist and Mercado friend Pedro Julio Serrano.
Serrano even called into question the culprit’s contention the young man wore a dress.
“He [Mercado] identified and lived as a very proud gay man, he was very genuine and authentic. He was just very fashion-oriented and what you could call a gender-bender, but not in a transgendered way,” Serrano continued.
Of course Mercado’s alleged gender identification and sex work makes not one whit of difference—every speaker at last week’s New York City rally made that clear. However, no one here is a virgin and there are many gay folk out there, probably some of you reading this right now, convinced grisly stuff like dismemberment only happens because gays don’t straighten up and fly right. We had a gay troll here a while back who kept repeating hate crimes against gays will only end when the tribe stopped being so promiscuous. Mr. intellectual never answered how sexual activity was related to crimes against gays and lesbians. Instead he only repeated Bill O’Reilly’s “war on Christmas” mess (and no I’m not making any of this up).
Can’t wait for the trolls, gay and straight, to begin to blame Mercado for his own death. Or for the gay ones to moan how they can’t marry their true love because transgendred sex workers make it it sooooooooo hard for them to live peachy lives of respectability.
Your absolutely right. Mercados death is nothing less of a travesty, to attempt to be little that simply because he might have been a sex worker is almost as heinous as the crime itself. Even if it were true that he was indeed a sex worker, that should do more to concern us of the safety of transgendered people in our community as well as nontransidentified peoples who are engaged in sex work. Saftey from violence as well as STD transmission. The last thing we should be doing is blaming Mercado for his own death or even the allegeed situation he was in; whether that be true or not.
interesting thread here, http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14158/trans-erasure-again-in-the-coverage-of-the-puerto-rico-hate-crime-victim
Whether you agree with his alleged choice of profession, it is worth remembering that prositutes and “rent boys” are still human beings.
Michael, I checked that link. There was somebody here–and I really can’t remember who it was, I’m not trying to be snarky–who was all into some posters for referring to Lopez Mercado as a man. OK, I understand that sometimes family may be ready or willing to deal with something that goes past gay, but the consistent theme in statements from friends and family has been that Lopez Mercado was a gay man. Dress or no dress, gay man.
What’s really striking about the coverage in the linked story is the extent to which some people are insistent on parsing Lopez Mercado’s identity. There are some pretty nasty–and unmerited–attacks on Jennifer Vanasco’s reporting. On what grounds? Nothing that’s been substantiated, but it’s mainly the anger of some people who are convinced there’s an effort to erase a transgendered person, or to show disrespect for that person’s trans status by referring to biological gender. This is bullshit, because it serves as a distraction from the fact that Lopez Mercado seems to have died from either exsanguination or trauma (from dismemberment). The coverage on Pam’s House Blend was really starting to sound like the worst stereotype of super-crunchy-ultra-lefty types who spend their lives taking offense at EVERYTHING. It’s like a form of OCD. If it should emerge that Lopez Mercado did identify as a woman, then I don’t see any reason why most people here would have an issue dealing with her in that space. I gotta say that I get angry and impatient at people jumping to a conclusion and letting that conclusion take up more space than the murder itself. I’m not being insensitive, I’m willing to change my stance *with further info*, but right now that info doesn’t exist. I’m not trying to marginalize anybody, but I’m not interested in parsing minutiae when the primary story is an extraordinarily gruesome murder. If anything, engaging in this debate on gender identity only serves to validate the murderer’s defense, and no way in hell do I wanna join in that party.
Whether he did sex work or not, not relevant.
He was just a young man, maybe with hopes and dreams with his life cut short too soon.
Thank you Mr. Withers. The “flaming” of this “poor” straight man seems questionable at best. While this particular boy in a dress sex worker practice used to be common and is where the term flaming comes from I find stories like this to be incredibly suspect. It’s just such a convenient way to make the victim out to be the bad guy, and would take a major dose of stupid to try now anyway.
Assuming Mr. Mercado was a sex worker it still doesn’t explain away murder. In my book it doesn’t even explain away judgment. I have always found the idea that sex work would be morally judged to be idiotic at best. Harming another human being is immoral. Sex work that is truly predatory is immoral, but only because of the predatory behavior not because of the sex.
We need to make it perfectly clear to everyone that such judgments are unacceptable.
Most crimes against LGBT people are based on our gender expression – being too butch or too femme for people to handle. It wouldn’t be surprising if gender expression and/or identity played a role in this crime.
I think I heard someone say that the oldest profession in the world is prostitution. Im way left so I think that should be legalized as well but thats another story.
Either way, I wouldn’t be suprised if he wasn’t a sex worker at all. He might not have even been dressed up in womens clothing, but that might be a ploy for the defendant to somehow make himself seem blameless and still keep his manhood. Its less gay if he thought it was a girl right?
It could have been that he was screwing around with a boy for free and got freaked out afterward and did what he did. We’ll NEVER REALLY KNOW becasue we were’nt there but I do like to speculate
Jorge Mercado had human rights. Whether or not he was a sex worker doesn’t give ANYONE the right to take his life.
I think you’ve asked the wrong question here, Mr Withers. The question you should be asking is “should it matter?”, to which the answer is most definitely no. However, the sad reality is that it probably will matter to some people, and it will distract many from the fact that this is a crime motivated by homophobia.
The reality is that if he really was a prostitute it will provide more ammunition for those who say he deserved what he got. There will be less sympathy for the victim and more for his killer. Is it right? Absolutely not, but we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t accept the reality of the situation.
Like it or not, some people will find it harder to sympathize with a gay male prostitute who allegedly “tricked” his victim than they would for a young gay man murdered in cold blood simply because of his sexuality. People will use his occupation as a way of justifying the unjustifiable, claiming that a horrendous crime was slightly less horrific.
Does it matter to me? Absolutely not. It is a horrible crime motivated by bigotry. Will it matter to others? Probably, and that’s the real tragedy of this situation.
Far from blaming this poor kid for his own brutal death, I want to know at what point personal responsibility for our own safety enters this discussion. Let it be said that no person (sex worker or corporate CEO) *deserves* to be brutally murdered. However, there is something to be said about putting ourselves in dangerous situations. Does it matter that this kid might have been a prostitute? Yes. Why? Because it highlights a thing that we cannot ignore: safety and the necessity of constant vigilance. We cannot put ourselves in dangerous or potentially dangerous situations and then marvel at the consequences as though they were entirely unanticipated. (And I’m sorry, but prostitution is a dangerous situation for anyone to participate in, especially when it is illegal.) There is no justifiable excuse for this or any other murder, but there is definitely a reason for it, no matter how wrong that reason inevitably is. Ignoring the reason doesn’t solve the larger problem of violent homophobia. We must face it head-on and, if evidence reveals that we are somehow at fault for putting ourselves at risk, we must acknowledge our mistakes and rectify our behaviors. And, for the record, I would feel the same way about this case if the victim were straight, female, or from Mars.
If evidence proves that there was no prostitution involved, the question is moot and the motive for this crime goes back to the basics. But the point should remain in all of our hearts and minds that personal safety is our own responsibility *first*. There’s a difference between “straightening up and flying right” and being honest and realistic about the forces of opposition in this world.