Contact: Seth Watkins
phone: (415) 595.6120
e-mail: twilightchild@hotmail.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2001 -- Pauline Mitchell, mother of slain Navajo gay Two-Spirit youth Fred C. Martinez, Jr., will take part in a candlelight vigil and march in her son's memory on Saturday, August 25, 2001 at 7:30 p.m in San Francisco.

The vigil will begin at the southwest corner of Dolores Park at 7:30 p.m. and end at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), 150 Eureka Street. At 9 p.m., Mitchell and others will speak at a vigil.

Martinez was brutally murdered in Cortez, Colo. in June. His death has received national attention during recent weeks with vigils being organized around the country.

"I am so touched that the San Francisco community would hold a vigil in honor of Fred, Jr.," Mitchell said. "I do not want to see what happened to F.C. happen to anybody else. I look forward to joining the people of San Francisco so that we may let those who come from hatred know that we will be silent no more."

Vigil organizer Seth Watkins said Martinez lived his life proud of who he was and for that, his life was taken. "I couldn't just sit by and do nothing so I decided to try to raise the money and support to bring his story to San Francisco," said Watkins. " And who better to tell that story than his mother, Pauline Mitchell."

As part of the vigil, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has prepared an official Offering of Condolences that will be presented to Mitchell that evening. "This vigil for Fred Martinez Jr. is something that San Francisco can do to honor his memory. This is a tragic loss for the entire LGBT community, even here in San Francisco and that's why there's still a need for us to send a message that discrimination, hate, bigotry, and violence shouldn't be cultivated in our country."

The Vigil is being co-sponsored by the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC); the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits; Communities United Against Violence (CUAV); the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR); the San Francisco Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force; Proyecto ContraSIDA Por Vida; ELLAS en Acción; The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; and the offices of Supervisor Mark Leno, Mayor Willie Brown, Rep. Nancy Pelosi; and State Assemblymember Carole Migden.

For information, please contact vigil organizer Seth Watkins at (415) 595.6120 or via e-mail at twilightchild@hotmail.com.