Bolivian LGBT activists want justice for slain transgender woman

Members of Bolivia’s LGBT community marched here on Friday to demand that the government ensure justice for a transgender woman killed in what is being called a hate crime.

The procession of roughly 100 people carried a symbolic black coffin from San Francisco Square across La Paz to the gates of the Ministry of Justice.

Transsexual activist Luna Humerez told EFE that the purpose of the protest was to demand that Justice Minister Hector Arce personally oversee the case through conviction and sentencing.

Litzy Hurtado, 24, was stabbed to death last weekend at a discotheque in El Alto, near La Paz, in an apparent act of transphobic violence.

The victim’s 30-year-old sister was injured in the attack.

“Everything started with arguments and insults from which they defended themselves, but unfortunately they couldn’t against so many people,” Humerez said.

She criticized authorities for releasing three people identified as accomplices even as police continue to search for the person thought to have wielded the knife.