Disability Community to Remember George Hodgins and Other Disabled Victims of Domestic Violence

Autistic Self Advocacy Network Contact:
Andee Joyce, Chapter leader
andeejr@gmail.com | 503.757.9929

Disability Rights Oregon Contact:
Bob Joondeph, Executive Director
bob@droregon.org | 503.243.2081

Click here for a Word version of this media advisory.

Click here for a flyer.

Disability Community to Remember George Hodgins and Other Disabled Victims of Domestic Violence

WHAT: Candlelight Vigil to honor the lives of people with disabilities murdered by their caregivers
WHEN: Friday, March 30, 7:00 pm 
WHERE: Pioneer Courthouse Square, Downtown Portland 
VISUAL: Disability rights activists and allies with candles

Local disability rights advocates will hold a candlelight vigil on Friday, March 30 to honor the lives of people with disabilities murdered by their families and caretakers. The vigil is part of a nation-wide Day of Mourning, during which disability rights activists in cities across America will organize events to remember people with disabilities whose lives were lost to domestic violence.

On March 6, George Hodgins, a 22-year-old autistic man, was murdered by his mother in Sunnyvale, California. In response, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) held a vigil in Sunnyvale on March 16. During the vigil, mourners read a list of names, beginning with Tracy Latimer, a teenager with a disability killed by her father in 1993. At the same time as ASAN’s vigil was being held, Tracy’s father was speaking on a television panel for the Canadian Global News, arguing for legalizing the killing of people with disabilities — in the name of “mercy.”

When people with disabilities are murdered by caretakers or family members, many people justify these murders as “understandable,” or talk about the “burden” of caring for someone with a disability. This is the view that was aired on Canadian Global News, and in many news articles covering the murder of George Hodgins. Many people are quick to justify the murder of a person with a disability, when they would offer no such justification if the murder victim were not disabled. The national Day of Mourning is meant to remind the media covering these stories that the lives of people with disabilities have value.

The vigil will be held at 7 pm on Friday, March 30, at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

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Disability Rights Oregon (DRO) promotes and defends the rights of individuals with disabilities as Oregon’s designated Protection & Advocacy (P&A) System.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization run by and for Autistic people. ASAN was created to provide support and services to individuals on the autism spectrum while working to educate communities and improve public perceptions of autism. Our activities include public policy advocacy, community engagement to encourage inclusion and respect for neurodiversity, quality of life oriented research, and the development of Autistic cultural activities. We provide information about autism to the public through a number of different educational, outreach and systems change related projects.