A boy remembered
Transgender teen's death 10 years ago remains a motivation for education about gender diversity
By Emery Cowan Herald Staff Writer
Saturday, June 11, 2011 8:44pm
http://durangoherald.com/article/20110612/NEWS01/706129875/0/s/A-boy-rememberedIt was a death that brought this quiet corner of Southwest Colorado into the confluence of raging issues about hate crimes, gender violence and long-standing prejudices against minority, homosexual and transgendered people.
Ten years ago, 16-year-old Cortez resident Fred Martinez was murdered, bashed repeatedly with a heavy rock held by a man he met just that night. In what came to be central aspects of his death, Martinez was Navajo and described himself as "two-spirited," a distinctly Native American term describing those who engender a male spirit and a female spirit.
