Press

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force today urged Milwaukee law enforcement officials to fully investigate the murder of a local activist, including elevating the murder to the classification of a hate crime.

Milwaukee activist Juana Vega was shot repeatedly in the face and chest and died on Sunday, Nov. 11. First-degree intentional homicide charges have been filed against Pablo Parrilla who, according to witnesses, threatened to kill Vega on numerous occasions because of her lesbian relationship with Parrilla’s sister. Local law enforcement officials have not yet classified the murder as a hate crime, despite the obvious evidence in the case. Under Wisconsin law, such a classification would not alter the mandatory life sentence already required by a first-degree intentional homicide conviction.

"This vicious murder happened solely because the victim was a lesbian. This is exactly the reason that the hate crimes law exists," said NGLTF executive director Lorri L. Jean. "The Wisconsin hate crimes law has been scrutinized by the U.S. Supreme Court and has been found constitutional, yet it has been rarely, if ever, applied in a case involving bias violence against a member of the Milwaukee-area lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community. Now is the time."

NGLTF today pressed three key Milwaukee officials to closely examine the case. The letter urged Mayor John Norquist, Common Council President Marvin Pratt, and County Executive Tom Ament to "give full consideration to enhancing the homicide charge with a charge that the alleged killer committed a hate crime."

Vega, 36, was a Mexican-American lesbian, an entrepreneur, a painter and a chef. She was active in Las Americas Without Borders, a social organization for GLBT Latino/as in Milwaukee. Her brutal murder occurred on the last day of the Creating Change conference, the national conference of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement, which was convened in Milwaukee by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation.

NGLTF urges gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people to contact the Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament to urge the fill investigation of the murder of Juana Vega, including the application of the Wisconsin Hate Crimes law. Reach him at:

Tom Ament
Milwaukee County Executive
901 N. 9th Street, Courthouse Room 306
Milwaukee, WI 53233-1458
Phone: 414-278-4211
Fax: 414-223-1375
Email: tomament@milwcnty.com

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.