A hate crime

It was not a very pleasant way to die. Indeed, the state in which the remains of Jeffrey Laude, aka Jennifer, were found in the bathroom of a motel room in Olongapo spoke of a degree of anger and violence, even hatred, on the part of whoever was responsible for her murder.

Jennifer, a transgender (although it is not known yet if she indeed completed sex reassignment surgery or was in the process of “transitioning”), was found with her head “leaning” on the toilet bowl, naked save for a blanket covering her lower extremities. Police said she could have been strangled with her head dunked in the toilet. Two used condoms were found in the room’s waste basket.

Some websites have said Jennifer’s killing was a “hate crime,” provoked by the suspect’s sudden discovery that she was not a woman, or at least a woman in the sense it’s commonly understood.

Indeed, one commentator remarked that what happened to Jennifer could have been the result of the “Crying Game effect.” It’s taken from the 1992 movie of the same name, where one character (played by Stephen Rea) finds to his shock and dismay that a girl he had fallen in love with was really a male. “That he found out just as they were about to have sex compounded the horror of the discovery to the point that Fergus (Rea’s character) was shown throwing up in the bathroom,” the commentator narrates.

In a report on the killing published in this paper, Mark Clarence Gelviro, a friend of Jennifer’s, said they met the suspect at the Ambyanz Disco Bar after which he accompanied the pair to the Celzone Lodge, but when they reached the motel, Jennifer asked him to leave “before the foreigner could discover that they were transgenders.”

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INDEED, it had happened before. As the “Crying Game” scenario reveals, male customers are far from pleased when they find out that the “woman” whose sexual services they had contracted turned out to be a man, or a man who was trying to pass for a woman.

Quite apart from the factor of being snookered into a liaison with a transgender or transvestite, there is also, it seems, an element of self-loathing on the part of the perpetrator, who may feel his masculinity diminished simply by the fact that he had been even slightly attracted to another man.

Then, driven to anger and self-hatred, the man turns on the object of his ire: the “woman” who had shared his bed.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that even “real” women have not, at one time or another, been assaulted, raped, or battered by their customers, lovers, or even husbands during or after sex. But violence, it seems, is an all-too-common risk faced by transgender individuals playing in dangerous waters. As Jennifer’s friend attests, they both were aware of the delicate game they were playing, and that they needed to be careful lest the customer smell something fishy in the air.

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JEFFREY/Jennifer’s death gains an added complication simply because the suspect in her murder may be a US serviceman who is currently confined to his quarters aboard an amphibious assault ship, along with three companions and ship mates who were spotted at the nightclub. The suspected Marine’s battalion had been deployed to the Philippines as part of a joint military exercise scheduled from Sept. 29 to Oct. 10.

As expected, Jennifer’s killing has expanded from an investigation of a murder and hate crime, to a case fraught with geopolitical implications, including the possible deterioration of relations between the United States and the Philippines. The Philippine government has encouraged the continued presence of US troops here as part of its efforts to bolster its defense capability in the wake of disputes with neighbors, particularly China.

Malacañang spokesperson Sonny Coloma, guesting at yesterday’s Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel, outlined the procedures involved in investigating and prosecuting crimes attributed to US servicemen against Filipinos. According to the Visiting Forces Agreement, said Coloma, an American serviceman suspected of a crime remains under the custody of the US Embassy, while the investigation and prosecution of the case remain the responsibility of the Philippine government. In the case of Jennifer’s killing, a team from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is helping out in the inquiry, being the body charged with probing actual or suspected criminal offenses involving the Navy and Marine Corps. (Here’s hoping the real NCIS team proves even half as capable as its American TV counterpart!)

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COLOMA says it may take some yet before the investigation and prosecution of the case could proceed, given that the Olongapo police force has yet to submit its findings. Observers say it may take “weeks” before the arraignment, although it’s hoped that the suspects in the case will not be spirited away (their ship was scheduled to leave yesterday) as what has happened in too many other cases.

As it is, Jennifer’s sister has already complained that their family has only spoken with the police and that they have not heard from the Department of Foreign Affairs or Malacañang.

A report in the Inquirer quotes a press statement from the US Embassy stating that at least 1,400 US troops are participating in the current exercise. The troops, said the statement, were “eager to enjoy Olongapo City and strengthen their understanding of a country with deep historical ties to the US and the US Navy.” It added that this visit “will allow the ship to replenish supplies and give the crew an opportunity for rest and relaxation.”

Too bad for Jennifer, who ran afoul of one sailor’s idea of “rest and recreation.”