During the trip, the delegation will also meet with the family of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the 19-year-old gay teen who was brutally murdered on November 13, 2009. Guillermo Chacon, President of the Latino Commission and the delegation will meet with elected officials, LGBT activists, as well as with political, religious and civic leaders. “We are in Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, there have been over 16,000 LGBT related hate crimes reported, an average of about 1,450 LGBT hate crimes per year. In 2008, there were 29 LGBT hate crime murders reported in the Delegates: New York: NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, NYC Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, NYC Councilmember Rosie Mendez, NYC Councilmember Danny Dromm, NYC Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. About the Latino Commission on AIDS: The Latino Commission on AIDS is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1990 dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Latino/Hispanic communities. The Commission is the leading national Latino AIDS organization and works across the Unites and its territories. For more information visit www.latinoaids.orgThe Latino Commission on AIDS and Elected Officials from New York and Illinois urge an End to Hate Crimes and LGBT Discrimination in Puerto Rico