Denver, CO - The Colorado Anti-Violence Program (CAVP) applauds Weld County District Attorney, Kenneth Buck, prosecutors and law enforcement for filing hate crime charges against 31-year-old Allen Ray Andrade in the beating death of 18-year-old Latina transgender woman, Angie Zapata.
 
The Zapata family expressed their relief that both first degree murder and hate crime charges have been filed. Angie's sister, Monica Murguia, added, "Unfortunately, it's not getting any easier. I thought we'd be done after we buried my sister. It feels like we have to relive it every day."
 
"It seemed apparent from the information provided to the public that the factual scenario surrounding the vicious murder of Angie Zapata fell clearly within the language of Colorado's bias-motivated crime statute," said Mindy Barton, Legal Director at The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Colorado.  "The support of law enforcement has been key in the expansion of hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity.  It is vitally important that the suspect is now formally charged with a hate crime as it shows the Weld County District Attorney's Office and the Greeley Police Department are strongly committed to enforcing this law."

Denver, CO - On Thursday, July 17, Angie Zapata, an 18-year old Latina transgender woman was found murdered in her home in Greeley, CO. It appears that there may be anti-transgender motive in this brutal crime.



It is believed that the suspect has stolen Angie's sister's car, a very dark forest green 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser with the Colorado license plate number 441ORN. There is a hubcap missing on the front passenger-side tire and there is paint missing on the front bumper on the driver-side, under the headlight. Anyone with information about the car is asked to call the Greeley police through the communications center, 970-350-9600.

Report Shows Continued Increase in Hate Motivated Violence

Denver - Today, the Colorado Anti-Violence Program (CAVP), in conjunction with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), released its annual report on violence against lesbians, gay men, bisexual people and transgender individuals. Colorado is just one of fourteen programs across the country who contributed data to the 78-page report, released annually by NCAVP. The report examines data compiled from almost 2,000 hate-motivated incidents in thirteen cities, states, and regions across the country including Chicago, Ohio, Colorado, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York City, Pennsylvania, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Vermont.

Montrose, CO – District Attorney Thomas Raynes announced today that hate violence will not be included in the list of charges that the DA’s office is bringing against two of the suspects in the Murder of Kevin Hale, an openly gay man who was killed in Montrose, CO on July 30th.

The suspects, Jason Fiske and Adam Hernandez, are being charged with first degree murder and intimidating a witness, as well as conspiracy to commit robbery. When asked why the incident was not being investigated as a hate crime, Assistant District Attorney Mark Adams declined to comment further but stated that the issue could be raised again, particularly at sentencing. If a crime is shown to be bias-motivated, the sentence can carry enhanced penalties. Sexual orientation was very recently added to the list of protected categories under Colorado’s Ethnic Intimidation Act. The Act currently includes race, religion, national origin, color and ancestry and as of July 2005, sexual orientation and disability.

Montrose, CO – Lifetime Montrose resident Kevin Eugene Hale, age 36, was killed Saturday morning, July 30th, in Buckley Park as he was leaving Portal Pizzeria and Pub. Two of the suspects in the case, Jason Fiske and Adam Hernandez, are currently in custody and being held on charges of first degree murder.

Family and friends of Kevin Hale believe that the murder was hate-motivated. “Kevin was very openly gay,” Larry DeVinny, Hale’s uncle, said when speaking with CAVP staff about the incident. “Kevin has endured a great deal of anti-gay harassment during his life here in Montrose,” DeVinny elaborated. He also stated that during the past year, Hale had expressed fearing for his safety. DeVinny recalled Hale expressing concern about one of the suspects in particular, Jason Fiske.

“In many cases of bias-motivated violence, the perpetrator(s) are known to the victim – a co-worker, a fellow student, a neighbor. And often the perpetrator has been harassing and intimidating the victim for a significant period of time, long before they do something severe enough to make headlines,” said Avy Skolnik, with the Colorado Anti-Violence Program.

Colorado - Today, the Colorado Anti-Violence Program released its annual report on violence against lesbians, gay men, bisexual people and transgender individuals. The report is a joint project with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs and fifteen of its member agencies across the country. The 90-page report examines data compiled from almost 2,000 hate-related incidents in eleven cities, states and regions across the country: the Chicago area, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Colorado, Houston, Texas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, the New York City area, Pennsylvania and the San Francisco Bay area. Additional information was included from Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, Tucson, Arizona and Vermont.

NCAVP's report is the most complete examination of such violence against LGBT people. Each year, the FBI publishes its own report on hate crimes, which includes anti-LGBT incidents, but it consistently contains information on far fewer cases than the NCAVP publication because it relies on law enforcement reports of such crimes rather than victim service organization data.

In 2004, the Colorado Anti-Violence Program documented 182 victims of anti-LGBT-bias, an increase of 21% over the 2003 total of 151 victims. The most significant change in victim demographics collected by CAVP was the 567% increase in LGBT organizations targeted for hate incidents. This marks the 8th year in a row that CAVP has documented increases in bias motivated violence in Colorado.

Victim demographics changed somewhat in Colorado in 2004. Transgender M-F victims decreased 65%, while transgender F-M victims doubled. Victims who identified as African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Indigenous all decreased, while victims who identified as Latino/Latina doubled. Victims who identified as White and multi-racial also increased. CAVP saw a rise in numbers of reports from victims 18 or under, up to 44 in 2004 from 12 in 2003.

Denise de Percin Appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper to Denver GLBT Commission
Carter Klenk Elected to Board of National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs

Denver – The Colorado Anti-Violence Program announced today that two of its staff members have accepted leadership positions working with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at the local and national levels.

The board of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, during its semi-annual meeting hosted in Denver earlier this week, elected CAVP Program Director Carter Klenk to a two-year position on the board. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs is an association of agencies that advocate for and provide services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of harassment, violence, and crime, including anti-HIV/AIDS violence, partner abuse, sexual violence, police misconduct and other forms of victimization.

Number of Victims Increases Dramatically; Incidents Spike in Last Six Months of 2003

Legislative Climate Contributes to Backlash Institutionalized Homophobia Creates Barriers for Victims Denver – The Colorado Anti-Violence Program, in conjunction with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), announced the release of its 8th annual report on violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. NCAVP’s report is the most definitive such publication on anti-LGBT hate violence in the nation.