The Murder of Gwen Araujo
Gwen Araujo was born on February 24, 1985. She lived in Newark, California, and was described by family members as a happy and energetic child. From a very early age, Araujo expressed the desire to be a woman and had started to live as one before her death. [1]
At the age of 14, Araujo came out to her family as transgender and began using the same Gwen after her favorite musician, Gwen Stefani. She also went by the names Wendy and Lida. Araujo was ostracized by her community and school, leading her to drop out of school early and look for work. She struggled to find a job, which her mother says was the result of intolerance created by her daughter's transition. [2]
Araujo, who was then going by the name Lida, was introduced to the men who would eventually be her killers in the fall of 2002. [3] Araujo is said to have engaged in consensual sexual activities with at least two of the men in the group. [4] The people who alleged to be Araujo's friends often speculated whether or not she was actually a female.
On the night of Oct. 3, 2002, Araujo attended a party at a house rented by José and Paul Merél. [5] The party was also attended by the Meréls' younger brother Emmanuel, Michael Magidson, Jaron Nabors, Jason Cazares, and Nicole Brown. [6] In the early morning hours of Oct. 4, Magidson asked Araujo to reveal her biological sex or allow him to touch her genitals, which she refused. [7] Brown then suggested that one of them should inspect Araujo, and Magidson took her to the bathroom for a forced inspection. Brown then also went to the bathroom where she discovered that Araujo had male genitalia during a forced inspection. [8]
According to witness accounts, Brown blurted out, "It's a f--ing man!" and the men with whom Araujo had had sexual relations became enraged and violent. [9] José Merél, who had engaged in sexual activity with Araujo, vomited upon learning Araujo was biologically male and began to cry in disbelief, saying "I can't be f--ing gay." [10]
José, Magidson, Nabors, and Cazares, brutally attacked Araujo and eventually murdered her. They buried her body near the Sierra Nevada mountains in a shallow grave where she was found on Oct. 15. [11] Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, reported her missing on Oct. 5; however, the police did not initially take the report seriously partly because she was transgender. [12]
References:
[1] “Who She Was,” The Emporia Gazette, April 24, 2009, http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/police_courts_fire/article_b50d51e6-58bb-5b47-9bec-9aa97604f7cc.html
[2] "Who She Was."
[3] Michelle Locke, “Case of slain transgender teen could go to a jury this week,” Associated Press, June, 1, 2004, https://web.archive.org/web/20090203141117/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040601-0012-ca-transgenderkilling.html
[4] Locke, "Case of slain transgender teen."
[5] Dean E. Murphy, “3 Are Charged in Death of Man Who Dressed Like a Woman,” New York Times, October 19, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/19/us/3-are-charged-in-death-of-man-who-dressed-like-a-woman.html
[6] Murphy, "3 Are Charged"
[7] Christine Hanely and Jessica Garrison, “More Told in Teen’s Killing,” Los Angeles Times, October 22, 2002, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-22-me-eddie22-story.html
[8] Hanely and Garrison, "More Told."
[9] Henry K. Lee, “Witness tells of friends’ anger at being duped/He says 2 were mad their sex partner was biologically male,” SFGATE, June 7, 2005, https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/HAYWARD-Witness-tells-of-friends-anger-at-2665374.php
[10] Kelly St. John, “Transgender teen did nothing ‘to deserve death’/But 1 accused killer said he vomited on finding she was male,” SFGATE, July 27, 2005, https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/HAYWARD-Transgender-teen-did-nothing-to-2620082.php
[11] Kelly St. John, “Chilling time line of a killing/Death of a transgender teen described in grisly detail,” SFGATE, February 26, 2003, https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chilling-time-line-of-a-killing-Death-of-2668044.php
[12] St. John, "Chilling time line."