Vigils to be held for teenage lesbian couple shot in Texas

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is calling for a full investigation into the shooting of a teenage lesbian couple in Portland, Texas. The young women were found over the weekend in a park with gunshot wounds to the head. Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, died and Mary Christine (Kristene) Chapa, 18, was taken to an area hospital where she is reportedly in serious but stable condition. Portland Police Chief Randy Wright told the media the case is being investigated as a murder, and that law enforcement couldn’t rule out that the two were singled out because they were lesbians.

“That’s always something that we’re looking for, but as of this point, we have not been able to establish that that had anything to do with the attack,” he told MSNBC. Read more here and here.

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey says:

This brutal act against Mollie and Kristene has left many shaken throughout the local community and across the country. It is heart-wrenching that these two young women, with their whole lives ahead of them, became the targets of such terrifying and deadly violence. Our deepest sympathies go out to their loved ones, and we keep Kristene in our thoughts and prayers during her recovery. We urge police to investigate this case fully, including the possibility that these shootings were motivated by bias.

Despite the many gains that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have made, the threat of violence remains excruciatingly real.  We all must continue pressing toward the day when LGBT people can live freely and safely.

Vigils to be held this week in D.C., San Francisco and Texas

A vigil will be held on Wednesday, June 27, in San Francisco. Full details here.

Vigils will also be held on Friday, June 29, in Washington, D.C., and Texas.
D.C. details here and Texas details here.

Update:

A full list of vigils across the country can be found here.