Gay Puerto Rican teenager brutally murdered, decapitated and burned.

George Steven Lopez Mercado

George Steven Lopez Mercado, a 19 year old teenager from Puerto Rico, was found brutally murdered, burned, dismembered and decapitated this weekend in the small town of Cayey, Puerto Rico. George’s body was found off an isolated road and his arms and legs had been removed. According to Christopher Pagan, the individual who filed the iReport, the incident had gained little notice until picked up by the sites Towelroad.com and 365gay.com.

What makes matters even worse is that the police investigator alluded to the idea that George was asking for this to happen to him by claiming, “People who live this lifestyle need to be aware this will happen”. It is unknown as to what he meant by this statement and whether or not he was alluding to George’s sexuality or assuming George was engaging in risky sexual behavior. Currently, individuals are calling for the replacement of this investigator, with someone seemingly unbiased.

This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime.  Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico.  The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that “people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen”.  As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed

We have a gay rights activist in Puerto Rico Pedro Julio Serrano. Who does his best to defend these hateful acts, but the international attention is needed for this local government to wake up and give us the needed rights and proper justice to such hateful crimes.  I You are the biggest beacon of hope in such horrific events to be made known.

More information can be found at TowleRoad.com

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