http://www.sfgate.com/
Return
to regular view
Family, community bid farewell to killed transgender
teen MICHELLE LOCKE, Associated Press Writer
Friday, October 25, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/10/25/state1554EDT0109.DTL
(10-25) 17:45 PDT NEWARK, Calif. (AP) --
To family members, Eddie "Gwen" Araujo was a struggling but beloved teenager whose killing, allegedly committed in a fit of homophobic rage, is a private sorrow.
To transgender activists, Araujo represents the 25th victim since last November, by their count, of violence against people who don't fit traditional gender molds.
Both groups mourned Araujo at funeral services Friday.
"Angels don't have a gender and he's my angel now. I know that he's safe somewhere where no one can hurt him," said Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, speaking to hundreds of mourners at St. Edward's Church.
Araujo, 17, was beaten and strangled at a house party on Oct. 3. Police say three men attacked him after discovering the beautiful blonde they knew as Lida was biologically male.
Two weeks later, one of the men led officers to Araujo's body in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills about 150 miles east of San Francisco. One defendant has pleaded innocent while the other two have not yet entered pleas. All three face charges of murder as a hate crime.
Activists in the often-ignored transgender community are marching and holding vigils, saying they don't want Araujo's death to slip into the shadows.
"We can't let one of our sisters' lives go unnoticed," said Rachael Janelle Light, president of Transgender San Francisco.
But Araujo's family has shown a reluctance to see the name Eddie Araujo added to the list of hate victims such as Matthew Shepard, the gay college student beaten and left to die on a fence outside Laramie, Wyo., or Brandon Teena, whose murder at the hands of men who discovered she was anatomically female was the basis for the Oscar-winning movie "Boys Don't Cry."
Jaron Kanegson of the Youth Gender Project said activists sympathize with the family.
"No one wants to be remembered because they got killed in a horrible way. That's not what you want for your family member.
"I think one reason so many activists in this area are so sad and upset is because they do know people who've been hurt or been killed," Kanegson said. "I don't think that transgender activists are missing that this was a young person who was a person."
For the funeral, there was a service for family and close friends Friday morning, followed by an afternoon service open to the public.
Hundreds of people turned out for the viewing, filing somberly past the open casket where Araujo lay, high-boned features frozen in the serenity of death. The family said they felt Araujo would want to be buried as a woman and they honored that, choosing a black blouse smoothed over a modest swell of bosom. On Araujo's hands were fingerless black gloves that showed off a gleaming metallic manicure.
Some sobbed quietly as they walked past the body, some stooped to leave bouquets of flowers, some crossed themselves. At one point Araujo's 64-year-old grandmother fainted with grief, prompting a harsh outburst of sobbing from those nearby, but she later returned to the small auditorium.
Later, more than 700 people packed into St. Edward's for the funeral, many standing outside when there was no more room.
"I believe that our lives are changed now," said Father Jeff Finley. "I believe, I want to believe, that we will be able to say to each other, `I appreciate who you are."'
Family members spoke touchingly of Araujo's smile and generosity. Aunt Imelda Guerrero, remembered the teen as "a beautiful young person who loved his family, his friends, his music." She drew a rare laugh when she added, "not to mention he was really good at doing make-up."
Turning serious, she fought back tears as she talked about what is lost. "Eddie deserved a shot in life," she said. "Take flight, beautiful butterfly. Take flight."
Meanwhile, a threatened picket by anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps fell flat. Phelps, who regularly pickets events and was at Shepard's funeral, never showed.
Violence against people like Araujo is common, activists said.
Transgender does not mean gay. It is an umbrella term that includes cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals and those born with the physical characteristics of both sexes.
The attackers sometimes try to justify their violence by claiming they were tricked. The stereotype is that "this is really a boy dressing up like a girl, not that this is really a girl who happens to be in a body that's not what you'd expect," Kanegson said.
But from the victims' perspective, it's far from tricking anyone, "they're just finally expressing who they are," Kanegson said.
The case has raised many issues for transgender activists, one of which revolves around whether Araujo should be referred to as "he" or "she." Activists have complained that news reports using "he" show a lack of respect for the way Araujo lived.
Family members say Araujo struggled for acceptance from an early age, was taunted at school and later got turned down for jobs because of his appearance. In recent years, Araujo had taken the name Gwen after his favorite musician, Gwen Stefani of the group No Doubt, and had also gone by Wendy and Lida.
Guerrero said "Gwen" would be on Araujo's tombstone.
"I feel so much love in this room," she said at the funeral Friday. "If only he could have felt that."
Then the family walked out into the sunny parking lot where they released
17 butterflies, one for each year of Araujo's life.
On the Net: