Angie Zapata, the transgender Greeley teen who was murdered in July 2008, has been immortalized in song. She's an integral part of a verse of Los Angeles-based Latin band Ozomatli's anti-Proposition 8 song "Gay Vatos in Love."
Here are the lyrics, courtesy of Ozomatli's MySpace page:
Gaby and Mando walking through the parkLooking for love in protection of the dark
Club Cobra, a temple in the night
The more I hear of Morrissey, the more I feel alright
(Chorus) Gay Vatos in Love
Javi and Kique with their girlfriends in the car
Fronting on Crenshaw knowing who they are
Juan Gabriel says, "amor es amor"
But Angie Zapata is lying on the dance floor
(Chorus) Gay Vatos in Love
If the world can't understand
Stand by your man!
Eighteen-year-old Angie was murdered by Allen Andrade, then a 30-something unemployed man she met on the social networking website MocoSpace. They spent a few days together in her apartment and on the third day, he beat her to death -- first with his fists and then with a fire extinguisher. A jury convicted him of a hate crime; they found that Andrade killed Angie because she was biologically male.
(Westword live blogged Andrade's trial. Click here to read our daily coverage.)
Ozomatli's song lyrics are eerily fitting. Angie's friends and family say she loved to dance, especially at Tracks, a gay nightclub in Denver. "She'd dance like she was a professional choreographer. She had her own signature moves," said Angie's older brother, Gonzalo. "To be honest with you, she just wanted the attention. She got it."
