A packed house including Houston’s lesbian mayor and other officials hit F Bar on Sunday to memorialize a young man gunned down in the parking lot outside the pouplar gay bar.
The standing room only crowd heard from Mayor Annise Parker, Houston City Council member Richard Nguyen, state Sen. John Whitmire, and gay City Council hopeful Lane Lewis during the event. They joined a flood of remembrances and condolences for 22-year-old Juan Carlos Ramirez, who was shot and killed while leaving F Bar on March 12. Ramirez’s family attended as the guests of honor. After the remarks, a special edition of the Sunday F Divas show raised funds toward Ramirez’s funeral expenses.
Sunday’s memorial (photos) also served to rally the crowd over a rash of violent crimes in Montrose recently. It’s the latest gay Houston gathering to call attention to the crimes, including a street rally last week. Two teens were arrested for the Ramirez killing, but police are still looking into other shootings in the area, including an incident weeks earlier of another gay man shot and robbed near Meteor.
Parker expressed her sorrow to Ramirez’s family in person and via Twitter:
W/ family of Juan Carlos Ramirez, 22, at fundraiser for funeral. He was murdered in carjacking by 15 & 16 yr olds.-A pic.twitter.com/z8QZ7QczFO
— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) March 23, 2015
Photos by David Guerra Photography
