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 Founder and Media Liaison for the Family:

Michael H. Baughman

928-246-4856

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

              

P.O. Box 4116, Yuma, Arizona 85366-4116

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   World Premiere of Amancio Documentary will be May 2, 2009, at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

 

 

 

WORLD PREMIERE

 

Amancio: Two Faces on a Tombstone

A film by Tom Murray

 

US, 2009, video, 83 min

 

Saturday, May 2,2009

4:00PM | Gateway Cinema, MGLFF

 

 Yuma, Arizona is a relatively small town with a few notable distinctions. Located on the banks of the Colorado River and bordering both California and Mexico, it is the birthplace of Chicano activist Cesar Chavez and one of the hottest places in the country.

 

What is an otherwise a quiet desert city was also the site of a devastating murder that destroyed a family, bewildered a community, and ignited one man’s passion to rise and say “Enough is Enough.”

 

Amancio Corrales was an attractive 23 year-old with a zest for life and a network of loving family and friends. Born in Mexico and raised in the US, Amancio loved the arts, particularly the stage, leading him to launch a career as a female impersonator at age 20. Set on becoming a Vegas showgirl, Amancio gained notoriety throughout Northern Mexico and the southwest with each show. In May of 2005, his dreams and life met with a tragic end. His body was found floating on the Colorado river.

 

Michael Baughman had never met Amancio Corrales when he read of his death in the local paper. They had no mutual friends, didn’t frequent the same places, or come from similar backgrounds. What they did share was a joie de vivre that was infectious. Horrified by the case and how the sheriff dealt with it, Michael made it his personal mission to insure that justice prevailed. Amancio: Two Faces on a Tombstone is the tragic story of a young life cut short and of one man’s efforts to make sure that no one else meets the same end.

 

— Kareem Tabsch, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

 

FILMMAKER BIO

 

Filmmaker Tom Murray & subject Michael Baughman will be attending for the Q and A afterward. Tom Murray studied filmmaking in his college years, and yet it was only in his “50+” years that he tackled his first feature length work. His feature films include Fish Can’t Fly (2005) and Farm Family: In Search of Gay Life in Rural America (2006).

 

 

The Yuma Documentary will then be shown at the Loft Cinema in Tucson on May 7th, at 7:30pm. The Director Tom Murray and The Amancio Project Organizer Michael Baughman, along with members of The Corrales Family will also be attending.

 

For Tucson showing information click here

 

Visit “Amancio – Two Faces on a Tombstone” official website

 

Visit The Amancio Project for details of the case 

Gay-Straight Alliance OK'd for Yuma High

 

February 9, 2009 - 9:25 PM

BY WILLIAM ROLLER, SUN STAFF WRITER

 

The first Gay-Straight Alliance student organization at Yuma High School has been approved by the district in what one of the organizers is calling a landmark occasion.

 

Michael Baughman, founder of the Amancio Project, acted as a go-between for the students, the American Civil Liberties Union of Phoenix and Yuma Union High School District administrators. Baughman said he was just a facilitator who found the smart people to get the job done.

 

"I specialize in two things: gay rights and rights for the disabled," Baughman said. "But I put this in their hands. 'It's your group. You have to run it your way,' I told them."

 

Baughman launched the Amancio project in May 2005 to keep alive the investigation and expedite solving the murder of Amancio Corrales. A 23-year-old gay man who worked as a female impersonator under the name Dalila, Corrales was found murdered in the Colorado River earlier that month.

 

Baughman said there are more than 3,000 GSAs in U.S. schools, which exist to promote tolerance and combat homophobia.

 

Three years ago, Yuma High students tried to form a GSA but were unsuccessful. That effort failed for the same reason they had difficulty this time: because the administration blocked them from forming, Baughman said.

 

"The administration was in violation of their constitutional rights. More importantly they were in violation of their rights under the federal Equal Access Act."

 

After students contacted Baughman, he provided Web site and contact information to assess whether they wanted to proceed with forming the organization. Once students agreed to carry it through, Baughman made certain there was a correct flow of information from the ACLU and the school.

 

Since the ACLU was located in Phoenix, Baughman said, he acted as a liaison between students and YUHSD Superintendent Toni Badone, as well as providing moral support.

 

Baughman pointed out that the administration required students who formed the GSA to first obtain permission slips from their parents, while no other club has to do the same.

 

"You need permission to go off campus as a club, but just to join a club, that's a big violation of the Equal Access Act," Baughman said.

 

Mark Bastin, YUHSD associate superintendent, said there was no intentional effort to block the club from forming. The reason there was a delay for approval was because all clubs are required to have two faculty sponsors.

 

The GSA did have two sponsors but both declined to follow through because they said they had too many commitments, Bastin noted.

 

"I knew some of the club members and both of the faculty and I spoke to one of them, and he agreed to be a sponsor and so the Yuma High administration went ahead and approved it."

 

Bastin also said that all clubs must follow a process before getting approved. He added the requirement for permission slips from parents was misinformation a mistaken administrator had given the students and there was never any deliberate effort to oppose the club.

 

The Yuma High School GSA was also the only student group to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, Baughman recalled. At the end of the day, Brian Stephens of the Yuma chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People invited the GSA students to the podium to recognize them as an example of fine youth participation, he noted.

 

"People should be proud and immensely honored to have these students in their community who stand up for themselves," Baughman said. "I was beaming with joy about them."

---

William Roller can be reached at

wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.
 

               Amancio Corrales Gallardo Jr.

                         November 10, 1981 ~ May 6, 2005

as Dalila

                 as Amancio

Amancio Corrales, a 23-year-old gay man who performed as a female impersonator under the name Dalila, was found murdered in the Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona on May 6, 2005.  He died from what has been publicly described by authorities as “violent  trauma.”  The truth is, he was first hit over the head with a rock, beaten with his assailants fists, battered with a blunt object, then slashed and stabbed over 30 times. The fatal blow was directly was a knife wound to his heart. He was then dragged 25 feet and tossed into the water.

In response to this brutal incident, Michael Baughman brought together local organizers in the GLBT Community along with members of the immediate family and close friends of Amancio to develop a strategy to offer aid and comfort to the family and to address the issues and concerns which have arisen around this violent crime. 

On Friday, May 27, 2005, organizers with local ties to the Yuma area representing the Yuma County Gay Rights Meetup, Yuma High School Gay Straight Alliance, Arizona Leadership Institute, Arizona Human Rights Fund, Southern Arizona Gender Association and the United Church of Christ facilitated a strategic planning session, resulting in the creation of ~The Amancio Project

Two years later, with the murderer walking the streets of Yuma and several people knowing who he was but never coming forward, was arrested as the result of an anonymous tip prompted by the efforts of The Amancio Project. After a lengthily court process - a little over a year - a plea bargain was arrived at. The assailant was sentenced to eight years and nine months for Attempted Manslaughter with Aggravated Circumstances and ordered to pay restitution to the court and to the family. A sentence The Project and the family found far too lenient but had to accept.

The focus of The Amancio Project will soon begin highlighting serious crimes in Yuma County (murder and child molestation) in an effort to solve these crimes by keeping pressure on the authorities and keep them in the public eye.

Click Here for Case Timeline

THE AMANCIO PROJECT

PRESS RELEASE

 

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Media Liaison: Contact Michael H. Baughman at theamancioproject@gmail.com

www.TheAmancioProject.org

Gay Straight Alliance Formed At Yuma High School

Yuma, Arizona: On the morning of February 6th, a momentous event in Yuma’s Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender history occurred; the first Gay Straight Alliance Student Organization (club) was approved and now operates as the Yuma High School Gay Straight Alliance (YHS GSA). We received our official notification today via email from Toni Badone, Superintendent of Yuma Union High School District, who stated: “It is my understanding the club is approved and active.”

The Amancio Project played a significant “back channel” roll in this accomplishment operating as a facilitator and monitor as events developed. We came on board because Amancio graduated from Yuma High School. Amancio did not have the benefit of a GSA while he was attending Yuma High School. We will never know, had Amancio been armed with the support and information provided by a GSA, if he would have found himself in the position that took his life May 6, 2005.

Gay Straight Alliances are student organizations intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth and their straight allies (GLBTA). There are over 3,000 GSA’s operating on campuses across the United States.

The brave students of the YHS GSA are to be applauded for their efforts because it was not an easy struggle for them. They faced opposition at every turn; not from other students, but from the very administration charged to help, protect and set the example for them. Their application was continually delayed using the same illegal strategies employed a few years ago when another group of students attempted to form a GSA at Yuma High School. Those students – and some faculty – were bullied with threats of being “outed” or fired (the ACLU-AZ was ready to litigate then but the student plaintiff was scared off). During the attempts to form the present GSA, illegal scare tactics were also employed by requiring the students have a permission slip from home before they could join the YHS GSA effectively outing them. No other student organization had such a requirement and was a conscious violation of the Federal Equal Access Act by the administration.

These courageous students however prevailed but to do so, out of desperation (their school failed them, school administration failed them and their legislators failed them), they had to enlist the guidance of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU-AZ). The ACLU-AZ reviewed their application; finding overwhelming merit in the student’s plea and significant deficiencies in the way the school administration was dealing with the students. On January 23, 2009, the ACLU-AZ issued a Letter of Intent to Litigate on behalf of the students detailing the laws the school administration had violated by not allowing the YHS GSA to form.

Every gay and straight student has a right to a public education in an environment free from harassment, violence, name-calling and intimidation. All students deserve dignity and respect, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or expression, race, religion, disability, and national or ethnic origin.

Equality in education is important since human rights belong to everyone, now and in the years to come. Students and their families need to know they are investing their time, energy and resources in institutions that uphold the ideals of human equality to safeguard future generations who pass through the halls of learning.

Everyone - from students to families to administrators to faculty - should thrive in an educational environment free from discrimination. The same should be true for every citizen in their community, city, state and nation. Yuma schools should be no exception!

The Amancio Project is hard pressed to determine what was more disparaging: That the laws of the United States were so casually disregarded, or the appalling example set by well educated and credentialed adults these excellent students should be able to look up to and pattern their life after.

Documentary of murder of gay Yuma man premiers

 

April 1, 2009 - 4:00 PM

BY JAMES GILBERT, SUN STAFF WRITER

 

The premier showing of the documentary "Two Faces on a Tombstone," which is about the murder of Yuman Amancio Corrales, will take place on May 2 in Sarasota, Florida.

 

The documentary is being shown at 4 p.m. at the Gateway Cinema as part of the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, according to Michael Baughman, who is featured in the movie.

 

"It has been a long process that will culminate in a nice memorial for the family to look back on and always remember," said Baughman, who formed the Amancio Project, a campaign to keep public attention focused on the murder of 23-year-old Amancio Corrales. "It also makes a nice statement about one person being able to do something to make a difference."

 

The 64-minute documentary was directed by award-winning filmmaker Tom Murray, who's other works include "Farm Family," "Fish Can't Fly," "Almost Myself," "Tell" and "A Portable Tribe," and tells the story of the murder of Corrales, a gay man whose body was found floating in shallow water in Paradise Cove, just west of Joe Henry Park, with multiple stab wounds.

 

"I think there is a message in this film and hope it is well received," Murray said. "I hope what people get from the movie is that this was more than just a violent act committed against one person. It was a devastating murder that destroyed a family, bewildered a community and ignited one man’s passion to rise and say "Enough is Enough."

 

Corrales was a cosmetologist who also performed as a female impersonator known as Dalila, impersonating celebrity singers. He even had aspirations of becoming a showgirl in Las Vegas.

 

Murray, who made six trips to Yuma and shot 60 hours of footage for the documentary, added that the film will also feature some things that went on behind the scene that were never publicized, but didn't want to give away any details.

 

He and Baughman will also be attending the premier and participating with audience members in a question-and-answer period afterward.

 

According to Murray, he initially planned for the documentary to spotlight several groups and organizations across the country that responded to suspected "hate crimes" within their communities against gays and lesbians, but changed his mind after an learning more about the Corrales murder.

 

The movie will also be shown in Tucson the following week at 7:30 p.m. on May 7 at The Loft Theater. The event is being sponsored by Wingspan, which is a non-profit organization that promotes  the freedom, equality, safety and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in southern Arizona.

 

"The filming of the documentary was so very emotional and you can see it on the people's faces," Baughman said.

 

Baughman said the Corrales family has been invited to attend the showing and it will be their first time for them to see the movie publicly.

 

"They will have already seen the movie by then," Baughman said. "As soon as the final cut is finished, it will be sent to me and I will take it over to the Corrales family so they can see it privately."

 

Baughman and Murray said they would also like show the movie somewhere in Yuma, but no details have been worked out yet.

 

"It is something we would like to do, but nothing definitive has been worked out yet," Baughman said. "Maybe we can show it at The Closet."

 

According to court records, Corrales was dressed as a woman the night he met his killer, Ruben Solorio Valenzuela, at a local bar. The two left together to engage in mutual intimate physical contact.

 

However, after several attempts to fondle Corrales, Solorio Valenzuela realized that Corrales was really a man and then allegedly stabbed him.

 

Yuma County sheriff's deputies arrested Solorio Valenzuela on May 23, 2007, at Express Lube, 1900 S. 4th Ave., where he had been working, in connection with the killing of Corrales. An anonymous written tip led to Solorio Valenzuela's arrest.

 

A follow-up investigation revealed Solorio Valenzuela had confessed to family members soon after the murder, allegedly telling them how he had killed Corrales.

 

He then fled to Mexico the same day of the killing, eventually making his way to Guadalajara for three months, according to court records.

 

Solorio Valenzuela was sentenced  on Aug. 21, 2008, to eight years and nine months in prison for attempted manslaughter, which was the maximum sentence allowed under the terms of the plea agreement.

 

--

 

CASE HISTORY

 

May 6, 2005 - Amancio Corrales' body is found floating in shallow water in Paradise Cove, just west of Joe Henry Park, with multiple stab wounds. The Yuma County Sheriff's Office launches an investigation into the murder.

 

May 27, 2005 - The Amancio Project is created by Yuman Michael Baughman to keep attention focused on the crime. Baughman had never met Amancio Corrales when he read of his death in the local paper. They had no mutual friends, didn’t frequent the same places or come from similar backgrounds.

 

Aug. 6, 2005 - A prayer vigil is held at the Arizona State Capitol grounds. Over 100 people attend. Family, friends, state legislators and representatives of civil rights groups speak.

 

Nov. 10, 2005 - A candlelight graveside memorial and Mass is held.

 

Nov. 10, 2006 - A graveside memorial service is held along with a pink balloon release. Pink was Amancio's favorite color.

 

May 23, 2007 - Yuma deputies arrest Ruben Solorio Valenzuela in the 1900 block of South 4th Ave., where he had been working. An anonymous written tip led to his arrest.

 

May 28, 2007 - In a brief courtroom appearance, Solorio Valenzuela is charged with one count of second-degree murder.

 

May 31, 2007 - The Yuma County grand jury refuses to indict Solorio Valenzuela on the charge the Yuma County Attorney's Office filed against him and instead downgrades the charges to manslaughter and abandonment and/or concealing a body.

 

March 12, 2008 - The Amancio Project is selected to be featured in an upcoming documentary by award-winning director T. Joe Murray. The documentary covers several groups across the country that have responded to supposed "hate crimes" within their communities.

 

April 28, 2008 - Documentary filmmakers, after reviewing film footage gathered during their trip to Yuma, decide to solely spotlight the Amancio Project in their documentary.

 

May 6, 2008 - A graveside observance in memory of Amancio Corrales is held at Desert Lawn Memorial Park.

 

May 27, 2008 - Filming of the documentary begins with two independent documentary filmmakers in Yuma shooting film around town and conducting interviews.

 

July 21, 2008 - Michael Baughman, founder of the Amancio Project, and family members meet with prosecutors to discuss the terms of a plea agreement being offered in the case.

 

July 22, 2008 - Solorio Valenzuela pleads guilty to a charge of attempted manslaughter in Corrales' murder.

 

Aug. 21, 2008 - Superior Court Judge sentences Solorio Valenzuela to eight years and nine months in prison for attempted manslaughter, which was the maximum sentence allowed under the terms of the plea agreement.

 

May 2, 2009 - The documentary, "Two Faces on a Tombstone," about the murder of Amancio Corrales premiers at the Gateway Cinema in Sarasota, Florida as part of the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.