joyfulgirl
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2001
- Messages
- 16,690
I live in the city with the largest gay and lesbian population per capita of any city in the US except for San Francisco. And our headline today reads:
Man beaten in gay bashing clings to life
The 21-year-old Santa Fe man who police say was savagely beaten in a gay-bashing incident last weekend is clinging to life in critical condition, a family spokeswoman said Wednesday.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Rachel Rosen said. “The doctors say he will be getting worse before he gets better.”
At least four young Santa Fe men beat James Maestas early Sunday morning in a Cerrillos Road motel parking lot, police said.
An Albuquerque man with Maestas suffered minor injuries during the assault, in which police say the attackers repeatedly called the two men “faggots.”
Maestas apparently was kicked so hard the food in his stomach came up his throat and went into his lungs, Rosen said. Stomach acid badly burned his lungs, she said, and he is breathing with the help of a respirator.
He has been running a fever and must be monitored closely, because the risk of infection is high, Rosen said.
Maestas’ face and mouth are bruised and swollen, she said. “They haven’t even been able to see if he has all his lower teeth because his lower lip is so mangled.”
While a brain scan didn’t reveal any damage, she said, it’s too early to tell for sure. Maestas has not regained consciousness, and doctors are keeping him sedated, she said.
Doctors don’t know whether he will suffer permanent damage from the attack if he pulls through, Rosen said.
Rosen, who has known Maestas’ mother for 10 years, said the Maestas family is “traumatized” by the situation, but is a supportive, loving group of people.
“They are a wonderful family ,” she said.
Gabriel Maturin, 20, Isaia Medina, 19, and David Trinidad , 17, have been charged in connection with the beating, and police say three other men also were present during the violence.
District Attorney Henry Valdez said Wednesday that the case will be presented soon to a grand jury, which might decide to charge one or more of the men whom police didn’t arrest.
The prosecutor has said longer sentences could be imposed for convictions in the case under a 2003 state law if a jury finds a hate crime occurred.
Meanwhile, a Santa Fe group is planning a candlelight vigil for Maestas at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Plaza.
“The purpose is to show community support against hate crimes,” said Ross Randall , a board member of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of Santa Fe.
Rosen, who chairs a group called Equality New Mexico, said she is setting up a fund to help pay some of Maestas’ medical bills.
She said donations to the “Love Conquers Hate Fund” can be sent to P.O. Box 25683, Albuquerque, NM 87125.
Rosen said she wouldn’t have called Santa Fe a dangerous place for gay people if she had been asked her opinion last Saturday. Now, she thinks differently.
“Santa Fe is known to be a gay-friendly town nationally,” she said. “If it can happen in Santa Fe, it can happen anywhere , and does.”
Man beaten in gay bashing clings to life
The 21-year-old Santa Fe man who police say was savagely beaten in a gay-bashing incident last weekend is clinging to life in critical condition, a family spokeswoman said Wednesday.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Rachel Rosen said. “The doctors say he will be getting worse before he gets better.”
At least four young Santa Fe men beat James Maestas early Sunday morning in a Cerrillos Road motel parking lot, police said.
An Albuquerque man with Maestas suffered minor injuries during the assault, in which police say the attackers repeatedly called the two men “faggots.”
Maestas apparently was kicked so hard the food in his stomach came up his throat and went into his lungs, Rosen said. Stomach acid badly burned his lungs, she said, and he is breathing with the help of a respirator.
He has been running a fever and must be monitored closely, because the risk of infection is high, Rosen said.
Maestas’ face and mouth are bruised and swollen, she said. “They haven’t even been able to see if he has all his lower teeth because his lower lip is so mangled.”
While a brain scan didn’t reveal any damage, she said, it’s too early to tell for sure. Maestas has not regained consciousness, and doctors are keeping him sedated, she said.
Doctors don’t know whether he will suffer permanent damage from the attack if he pulls through, Rosen said.
Rosen, who has known Maestas’ mother for 10 years, said the Maestas family is “traumatized” by the situation, but is a supportive, loving group of people.
“They are a wonderful family ,” she said.
Gabriel Maturin, 20, Isaia Medina, 19, and David Trinidad , 17, have been charged in connection with the beating, and police say three other men also were present during the violence.
District Attorney Henry Valdez said Wednesday that the case will be presented soon to a grand jury, which might decide to charge one or more of the men whom police didn’t arrest.
The prosecutor has said longer sentences could be imposed for convictions in the case under a 2003 state law if a jury finds a hate crime occurred.
Meanwhile, a Santa Fe group is planning a candlelight vigil for Maestas at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Plaza.
“The purpose is to show community support against hate crimes,” said Ross Randall , a board member of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of Santa Fe.
Rosen, who chairs a group called Equality New Mexico, said she is setting up a fund to help pay some of Maestas’ medical bills.
She said donations to the “Love Conquers Hate Fund” can be sent to P.O. Box 25683, Albuquerque, NM 87125.
Rosen said she wouldn’t have called Santa Fe a dangerous place for gay people if she had been asked her opinion last Saturday. Now, she thinks differently.
“Santa Fe is known to be a gay-friendly town nationally,” she said. “If it can happen in Santa Fe, it can happen anywhere , and does.”
...that's disgraceful-I hope the jackasses who did that are soundly punished. 
.
I'll never understand.
to joyfulgirl
