Married LGBTQ Couple From Texas Murdered In Mexico

A married lesbian couple from El Paso, Texas was found dead after being tortured, shot, and dismembered in Juarez, Mexico on Sunday.

Authorities discovered the bodies of Julissa Ramirez and Nohemi Medina Martinez in garbage bags. The couple is believed to be in their late 20s and they leave behind three children, 2 girls, and one boy. The couple was originally from Chihuahua and were visiting family over the weekend, but were last seen on Saturday.

Two additional bodies of women were discovered over the weekend as police are investigating the murders of 11 women and more than 50 men in Cuidad Juarez this year. The city is known for drug-related violence and “femicides,” as nearly 1,000 women have been killed because of their gender in Mexico in the past year.

"We cannot allow Chihuahua to continue to be the second state in the country with the most hate crimes, and that each year there are more," The Chihuahua Community for Sexual Diversity tweeted.

The group released a formal statement urging more vigilance to protect the LGBTQ community.

"People of diversity have the right to live without fear of aggression that can escalate to a hate crime," the statement said, adding: "We must avoid normalizing language of hate and [homophobia]."

The Committee’s director Karen Avizo fears the murders would go unsolved like most hate crimes in Mexico and that authorities will do nothing.

“We feel like we are treated like second-class citizens and that we really don’t matter,” Avizo said.