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WATCH: Thousands in Puerto Rico Hold Vigil for Slain Gay Teen, Calle 13's René Pérez Speaks Out

More developments into the brutal murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the gay 19-year-old who was brutally murdered, decapitated and dismembered in Puerto Rico. On Thanksgiving Eve, thousands marched through the capital of San Juan to hold a candlelight vigil for the slain teen. The crowd demanded authorities investigate the case as an anti-gay hate crime—which apparently prosecutors have agreed to do under considerable pressure.

AFTER THE JUMP watch video of the demonstration.

Pedro Julio Serrano, a spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said as the marchers gathered outside the island's Department of Justice: "We're gay people, straight people, young people, old people. It is Puerto Rico that's walking tonight."

The mutilated body of the 19-year-old college student and gay youth activist was discovered Nov. 13 along a road in the mountain town of Cayey. Last weekend, there were more than a dozen vigils for Lopez across the country. The teen was laid to rest on Monday and close to 1,000 people attended the funeral. Miriam Mercado and Jorge López, the parents of Jorge Steven, attended the vigil with Jorge Steven's 9-year-old brother Jorge Gabriel. Mrs. Mercado—who has become a model of compassion after professing her love for her gay son and uploading a videotaped message thanking supporters throughout the world—tearfully addressed the crowd last night again: "'You have given us hope at our most difficult moment as a family,' she said. 9 year-old Jorge Gabriel led the crowd in chanting 'Long-live Steven.'"

Andrés Duque at Blabbbeando reports: "Political leaders were conspicuous in their absence. Two weeks after the horrible crime and the worldwide outrage it has elicited and there is still no word whatsoever from Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño, a conservative darling who is being mentioned as a potential 2012 Republican U.S. presidential candidate. Amazingly, two well-known and extremely well-loved Puerto Rican showbiz darlings did make an appearance. René Pérez, lead singer for the most successful reggaeton band in the world, Calle 13, and Denise Quiñones, Miss Universe 2001, marched in last night's vigil in support of Jorge Steven's family. After the vigil, they stopped to give my friend Pedro Julio Serrano the following declarations on video."

René Pérez said, in part: "What happened was atrocious. The crime was viciously awful, and strong and unjust, and it's also unjust that it hasn't even been spoken about. Speaking of stupid things, they honor Paris Hilton in the Senate, and they cannot speak about this?" In the video translated by Duque, and also on Twitter, the top-selling reggaeton singer in the world adds this "powerful" support for equality: "I am 'Homo' because I'm 'Homo-sapiens', I am 'sexual', hence I am 'Homo-sexual' as well."

Watch Pérez and Quiñones' words of support—with a translation from Blabbeando's Andres Duque—AFTER THE JUMP.

Turning to the investigation: 26-year-old Juan Martinez Matos has been charged with first-degree murder and jailed on $4 million bond. Martinez has confessed to killing and mutilating Lopez. It appears he is laying what appears to be a "gay-panic" defense, claiming Lopez was wearing a dress and he believed the victim was a female prostitute. Martinez claims Lopez tried to stab him and he defended himself with a kitchen knife.

NGLTF’s Serrano contradicts the account. Serrano tells Doug Ireland at Gay City News: "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,” Serrano, who met with investigators on the case, [says]. "Nor was he known as a cross-dresser. He 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."

The Puerto Rico Department of Justice has agreed to investigate the murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado as a hate crime. There have been at least 20 murders of gay men or transgender women since a 2002 hate crime law was passed in this U.S. territory. This will be the first time it has been applied.

WHEN YOU JUMP watch video of the demonstration shot by CNN iReporter Christopher Pagan. Also watch singer René Pérez and Miss Universe 2001 Denise Quiñones'—with a translation from Blabbeando's Andres Duque—AFTER THE JUMP.

Puerto Rico to Investigate Brutal Murder of Gay Teen as a Hate Crime

Important developments in the investigation into the brutal murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the gay 19-year-old who was recently brutally murdered and dismembered in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice has agreed to investigate the murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado as a hate crime. Andrés Duque has been monitoring developments on the island. Duque posted the ACLU LGBT Project's announcement via Facebook:

After meeting on Monday with the ACLU of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice has agreed to investigate the brutal murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado as a hate crime. The Department of Justice has also agreed to work with the ACLU to train Judges and prosecutors on hate crimes prosecutions. Although the commonwealth has had sentencing guidelines since 2002 that give prosecutors and judges the ability to seek more severe punishment for hate crimes, prosecutors have never investigated a crime as a hate crime. After Mercado’s murder, local police officials showed a tremendous lack of sensitivity to the crime. Investigator Angel Rodriguez was quoted in local media reports as saying, "When these type of people get into this and go out into the streets like this, they know this can happen to them."

Twenty-six-year-old Juan Martinez Matos was arrested and allegedly confessed to killing and mutilating Lopez. It appears he is laying what appears to be a "gay-panic" defense, saying he believed the victim was a female prostitute. Martinez claims Lopez tried to stab him and he defended himself with a kitchen knife. Matos has been charged with first-degree murder and jailed on $4 million bond.

Via Boy in Bushwick: Nuevo Dia reported William Ramírez, executive director of the ACLU and the University of Puerto Rico's Legal Clinic,  told the Department of Justice that the Commonwealth has a history of "not investigating hate crimes cases" such as the Lopez case. Says Ramirez: "The ACLU has tried to get the government to accept its responsibility to investigate cases...that are hate crimes, particularly that of young Jorge Steven López Mercado. We should not be satisfied with the possibility the federal government will do what our government is not interested in doing; which is to protect every citizen."

The Jorge Steven López Mercado murder will apparently be the first anti-gay hate crime prosecuted in Puerto Rico.

WATCH: Mother of Slain Gay Puerto Rican Teen Thanks Supporters

On Monday, close to 1000 people attended the funeral of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the gay 19-year-old whose body was found dismembered, decapitated, and partially charred on the roadside near Cayey, Puerto Rico. Mercado was killed because he was gay.

The late teen's mother, Miriam Mercado, took a moment from her grief to thank the thousands of supporters across the country. Says the mother: "May love conquer hate." Watch her YouTube message—with a translation from Blabbeando's Andres Duque—AFTER THE JUMP.."

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Slain Puerto Rican Gay Teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado Laid to Rest

An update to the horrific story of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the gay 19-year-old whose body was found dismembered, decapitated, and partially charred on the roadside near Cayey, Puerto Rico. Mercado was laid to rest today and close to 1,000 people attended the funeral in Toa Alta, reports EDGE's Michael Lavers who translates from Spanish:

"The support we have received from the public and Steven's friends has given us the strength to bear this moment of such horrible pain," Lopez's aunt Rubi Mercado told el Nuevo Diabetween tears. "I asked Steven with his wings from heaven to help us carry on without having him by our side." El Nuevo Diafurther reported López's aunt and his ex-boyfriend, Luis Rivera, opened the urn that contained the murdered teen's ashes and placed a necklace and a white rose inside it at the end of the funeral Mass. López's parents hugged their son's friends and cried. 'We definitely hope people and society wake up and demand justice,' López's friend José Alicea told el Nuevo Dia."

López's friends and family carried balloons and white roses as they walked to the cemetery. Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" played during the procession.

Miriam Mercado also uploaded a YouTube message, thanking the many thousands of supporters. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP.

The investigation: Twenty-six-year-old Juan Martinez Matos was arrested last week and allegedly confessed to killing and mutilating Lopez Mercado. It appears that he is laying what appears to be a gay-panic defense, saying he believed the victim was a female prostitute. Matos was charged with first-degree murder and and jailed on $4 million bond. Christopher Pagan's CNN iReport has been an invaluable source of information. Pagan writes:

"[Matos]said that he did not know that it was really a man and they went to his apartment in Cidra, where Steven allegedly told him to have anal sex with him, which provoked anger in him and caused him to murder him. He also said that Steven tried to stab him, and that he armed himself with a kitchen knife and under a fit of rage he injured him, dismembered him, decapitated him and then later took his remains to Guavate where he was left. Other allegations of the killer is that in 2003 he was arrested for domestic abuse and that in his youth he was molested and that is why he hates homosexuals."

Hate crime laws in this U.S. commonwealth have never been applied to any cases involving sexual orientation or gender identity. There are increasing calls to apply the new Matthew Shepard Act to this crime. The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis G. Fortuño, has yet to make any public comment.

With a translation from Andres Duque at Blabbeando, watch Miriam Mercado's thank you, AFTER THE JUMP.

Bill Clinton on "DADT" and Defense of Marriage Act at Netroots Nation

Photo by Andrés Duque

While delivering the keynote address at the Netroots Nation 09 conference in Pittsburgh, former president Bill Clinton was interrupted by a question on "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act. Washington D.C.-based netroots gay activist and blogger Lane Hudson yelled: "Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' right now?"

Clinton joked that Hudson, who was heckled by some in the audience, should take his behavior to a town hall meeting on health care reform, then explained he "didn't have any choice at the time" and "nobody regrets how this was implemented anymore than I do."

You wanna talk about ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn’t deliver me any support in the Congress and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military and the media supported them. They raised all kinds of devilment. And all most of you did was to attack me instead of getting some support in the congress. Now, that’s the truth.

When Gen. Colin Powell came up with this ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ it was defined while he was chairman much differently than it was implemented. He said, 'If you will accept this, here is what we’ll do. We will not pursue anyone, any military members out of uniform will be free to march in gay rights parades, go to gay bars, go to political meetings, whatever mailings they get, whatever they do in their private lives, none of this will be a basis for dismissal.' It all turned out to be a fraud [due to] enormous reaction against it among the middle-level officers and down after it was promulgated and Colin was gone.

On DOMA, the former president maintains he was attempting to block a constitutional marriage amendment: "Something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress presenting that. The president doesn’t even get to veto that. It’s the Congress that can refer constitutional amendments to the states. I didn’t like signing DOMA, and I certainly didn’t like the constraints it would put on benefits."

Writing at Firedoglake and the Huffington Post, Lane Hudson says he was "shocked" by the response from fellow progressives: "The immediate response shocked me at the time and still does. Those surrounding me yelled at me, booed, and told me to sit down. One elderly lady even told me to leave. While I was among the supposed most progressive audience in the country, they sought to silence someone asking a former President to speak out on behalf of repealing two laws that  took away the rights of a minority."

Lane Hudson adds: "What happened that was really important, however, is that President Clinton did address the issues that I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have without my forcing the conversation."

AFTER THE JUMP, via Firedoglake, video of the exchange.

Riot Police in Dominican Republic Disperse Gay Pride Gathering

"A small gay pride gathering that took place Saturday evening in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was interrupted" by riot police, according to Blabbeando's Andrés Duque, who offers a rough translation of the report "Democratic Modernity and Homophobic Repression in the Dominican Republic" in Diario Digital.

Even though LGBT Dominicans have celebrated a number of public gay pride events every June since 2001, there hasn't been a single event in which organizers have not run into opposition by Dominican authorities in the form of permit delays and denials and outright interventions. In this case, authorities had denied a request from Santo Domingo's Metropolitan Church to hold a gathering at Duarte Park and host a religious event in observance of gay pride on Saturday. Despite the lack of a permit, a few LGBT individuals decided to gather at the park and celebrate, which led to the police intervention.

The events described in the park sound very much like the events at Stonewall. The translation continues:  The park was surrounded "with agents from the National Policeand Politur and police vehicles with emergency lights on, while uniformed agents took photos of those who were present with the clear purpose of intimidation."

As recently as June 2007, Duque reports "close to 250 people congregated ... in a show of LGBT public visibility" "without incident at Santo Domingo's Duarte Park.

Maxwell Covers "Billboard"

A handsome and quite fab Maxwell covers the June 27th issue of Billboard as his long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated new CD BLACKsummers'night drops in about two weeks.

Soulbounce notes the singer "channeling Smokey, Sam, Marvin and Teddy on stage [and] the tantalizing headline", which refers to the singer's seven-year hiatus from the studio. Maxwell says in the interview: "'People ask, "Why so long?" and I say, "It's easier to take something that's of the moment, but so much harder to say something that will resonate today, tomorrow and for all times." I want my music to last forever. I never want my music to be dated.' " 

AOL Music's hip-hop/R&B PORTAL, The Boombox, is rolling out a track a day, with the entire album (nine tracks) streaming on June 26. The in-store date is July 7. Today the track "Love You" debuts.

Oh and you'll also be very! happy! to discover that Maxwell, like all other cool kids, is on Twitter. Writes Andres Duque: "And he's been trying his damndest as of late to prove that he is the 'real' Maxwell by uploading Twitterpics of himself misbehaving."

WHEN YOU JUMP, via SOULBOUNCE and STR8 OUTTA NYC, a look inside the magazine. There is also the music video for "Pretty Wings". Welcome back, Maxwell.

Sunday Candlelight Vigils for Victim of Brooklyn Hate Attack

Sadly, there are few new developments to report in the tragic case Jose Sucuzhanay, the 31-year-old Ecuadoran immigrant viciously beaten last weekend in Brooklyn. Sucuzhanay was declared brain dead and remains on life support at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens as arrangements are made for the family to fly from Ecuador.

As detectives comb the streets of Brooklyn searching for clues, local and national activists harness the power of the internet to show their support.

Activists are using Facebook, Twitter and other social networking utilities to encourage participation in a Sunday vigil that begins at 2PM at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Grove Street. "Take the L to Myrtle/Wyckoff," the message reads. "We will then walk to the site of the attack (Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place) for a vigil at 4pm. Bring your friends. Spread the word! Let's all show our support for Jose's family in this tragic and difficult time."

Andres Duque reports local artist Meg Hitchcock is organizing another vigil for Sunday evening at 7 pm. "They are meeting up at the Archive Cafe (49 Bogart Street, right by the Morgan stop on the L) and walking to the scene of the crime a few blocks away. They ask that people bring candles and show support."

A view of the crime scene, courtesy of Google Earth.

Jose Sucuzhanay was attacked with a baseball bat as he walked arm-in-arm with his brother Romel early Sunday in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Witnesses say they heard men in an SUV shouting anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs at the brothers. Author and activist Nathan James, who has been promoting awraeness of the shocking crime, says, "A human being was beaten to death in our streets not because of what he was or what he had done, but because of blind, insensate bigotry and homophobia. We must never permit atrocities like the murder of Jose Suzuchanay to pass in silence."

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LGBT Blogger Initiative: Sunday Morning Session

Day two of the LGBT Bloggers & Citizen Journalist Initiative. The morning session included a history of the gay rights movement lead by uber-activist Tim McFeeley. That was followed by a media training session lead by Joel Silberman. Silberman is one of the top gay media strategists  in broadcasting and has advised  gay political candidates, activists, Democratic politicians and President Bill Clinton. Thanks to Andres Duque for the photo.

Of course you can see Pam's House Blend sitting near the front. Standing up in the background is Michael Crawford talking to Tamara at ThatGayGirlTamara. Tamara is based in North Carlina and this was her first blogger's conference. And of course you can see Mike Rogers standing behind Pam. This summit is his brainchild and everyone is having a great time. 

Thousands Protests Outside New York City Mormon Church

The Upper West Side of Manhattan becomes a sea of protesters. More than 10,000 New Yorkers descended upon the Mormon Temple near Lincoln Center to protest the church's endorsement and financial support of Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban that recently passes in California.

Above, Phillip Howze of Brooklyn is one of many demonstrators carrying signs. Demonstrators chanted slogans such as "Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right," and "separation of church and hate."

The demonstration was largely organized by Corey Johnson on Facebook and Michelangelo Signorile on Sirius OUTQ radio, who invited yours truly as a guest on yesterday's show. Signorile describes the demonstration as a "phenomenal" success. "There was an electricity in the air, something I haven't felt in a long time at a street demonstration. ... Thousands of people converged on the temple chanting, 'Shame!' and filling up two large areas on both sides of the street, and eventually partially surrounding the temple. Meanwhile, thousands more were still underground, coming up from the subway, and slowly making their way out as the crowd swelled.' "

These photos via Andres Duque at Blabbeando and Joe Jervis at Joe.My.God. Joe also uploads an most excellent slideshow.

Marriage equality supporter Whoppi Goldberg was one of the celebrities spotted. Boy Culture author Matthew Rettenmund snaps Whoopi, Kate Clinton and more celebs supporting the gays.

The massive demonstration happened on the same day Connecticut issued its first marriage licenses to same sex couples. New York state may be next in line. Gay City News reports, "State Senator Bill Perkins, a Harlem Democrat, along with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn among the few politicians spotted, was an early supporter of President-elect Barack Obama. 'I believe in transformation,' he said, adding that the Legislature in Albany will pass a marriage equality bill despite the obstruction of his colleague, Ruben Diaz, Sr., a Bronx Democrat."

A nationwide protest is scheduled for Saturday.