Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 07:54:11 -0700 From: Clare Howell Subject: IYF-Alleged Murders Walk MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Editor: Clare Howell, clare@gpac.org ALLEGED MURDERERS WALK ====================== [New York, NY: 7 Jun 99] CHRISTOPHER LOPEZ, 20, and Christopher Chavez, 17, were released from custody last week after 5 months in jail. They were charged with the murder of Chanel Chandler last year in Clovis, CA. On 20 Sep 98, transgender woman Chanel Chandler, 22, was found dead in her apartment which was on fire. Her throat was cut with a broken beer bottle. KFSN News-TV of Fresno reports that the trial of Lopez and Chavez was to begin last week, but the District Attorney's office was not prepared. DNA test results were not yet available. According to KFSN, the defendants would not waive their right to a speedy trial, so the DA dropped the charges rather than go to trial and risk an acquittal. ### AN EDITORIAL ============ This has been a frustrating week, alternating as it has between people outraged that we publish pieces unflattering to HRC and thus promote hostility towards them, and people equally outraged that we publish positive pieces on HRC, or even that we have anything to do with them. No less than two crucial regional groups on either side of this dispute have withdrawn key stories about gender-based murders in as many days, stories that desperately need to be told, as people are dying. Think of that. Imagine CORE or PUSH or NAACP-NY refusing to put out a story on James Byrd Jr. being dragged to his death behind a pickup truck because they were displeased about unfavorable news coverage or some movement rivalry. Certain disagreements in our movement have taken on the tenor of vendetta. We have lost our capacity for principled disagreement, and are left to prosecute our disputes in uppercase and exclamation point, duly attended by intrigue and reprisal, often against other activists and organizations serving the same desperate people with the same desperate needs as ourselves. We have become transfixed with who is "on our side," with whether some statement (including this one) covertly favors one group over another, with which rivalries are at stake, or which ancient blood feuds will be aggravated, to the point that we have lost our moral compass and along with it our reason for being here. So here’s a preemptive reply to the next person to suggest that we ought to chose a side, that we ought to make a choice. We've already chosen a side. We've made a choice. We have a constituent to represent and her name is "Unidentified Male wearing items of women's clothing." She is sometimes poor, and too often black. She remains Unidentified, because even her own family won't claim her body. The police don't know her killer, and don't make much of an effort. No newspaper prints her story, no organization speaks out her in name. She is as disposable as a human being can be. We don't know if she was gay or straight or transgendered. All we know that is that she was gender-different, and what it cost her. She's our constituent. She's our side. We choose her. -- Riki Anne Wilchins, Executive Director ### Subscriptions. Please contact: Subscribe@Gpac.org For prior releases, check the GenderPAC website at: http://www.gpac.org (c) 1999 InYourFace GenderPAC's online news-only service for gender activism. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of GenderPAC's Board, Officers, or membership.