Vigil for victims of anti-gay violence

Terry Martin lights a candle during a vigil in the Castro Sunday, November 22 for victims of three recent hate crimes directed against LGBT people.

In the first case, Jorge Steven Lopez, 19, was murdered in Puerto Rico and his dismembered and burned body was discovered on an isolated road. Juan A. Martinez was reportedly arrested and confessed to killing Lopez after he discovered his female gender presentation did not match his male sex. Puerto Rico added sexual orientation to its hate crimes law in 2002, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

In Baltimore, gay teenager Jason Mattison Jr., 15, was found raped, gagged, and stabbed to death in a closet at his aunt's house. Dante Parrish, 35, an ex-con who was a family friend, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Finally, in Houston, Jayron Martin, 16, told police that he was beaten with a metal pipe after principals and a bus driver failed to respond to his pleas for help.

The San Francisco vigil was organized by activist Kelly Rivera Hart. Speakers and participants represented many community organizations, including AGUILAS, Community United Against Violence, the Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT Community Center, and the St. James Infirmary.