In Another Time, He Would Have Been Honored, But Instead He Was Murdered
Filed by: Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
March 17, 2011 12:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/03/in_another_time_he_would_have_been_honored_but_ins.phpThe murder of Fred Martinez, Jr., shocked all of us back in 2001. A 16 year old Navajo living near racist Cortez, Colorado, Fred left to go to see the rodeo, and never came back.
Fred was "nadleehi," a Navajo term referring to a two-spirit person, with a balance of masculine and feminine. (I have heard many other terms referring to two-spirit people, but one must be quite careful, for many of these terms were European inventions that are derogatory. One must also be careful not to apply Anglo labels such as "gay," "transgender" or "transsexual" where they are not applicable.) Nadleehi were honored within traditional Navajo culture, whereas our transphobic culture reviles. His bragging murderer was caught and received a forty year sentence.
