Day 9 of LGBTQ+ History Month
Content warning: discussion of transphobic and homophobic violence.
On October 3, 2002, San Jose resident Gwen Araujo attended a house party with Michael Magidson, Jaron Chase Nabors, and Jose Merel. Upon discovering Araujo was trans, the three men, along with a fourth unnamed assailant, brutally attacked Araujo before strangling her, hitting her over the head with a shovel, and burying her body in a shallow grave in the El Dorado National Forest, four hours from her home.
At Araujo’s funeral, her mother Sylvia Guerrero released 17 butterflies, one for every year of Gwen’s short life.
The proceeding trial was a landmark case in “panic defense” tactics. The panic defense has robbed LGBTQ+ folks of justice for decades by excusing their murderers for reasons like “heat of passion,” effectively suggesting that the deaths of people like Gwen Araujo are somehow justified.