Andre “Angel” Melendez was a son, a brother and was loved by his family and friends. He, as so many young people in the 90’s, longed to find a place where he belonged and where he felt safe to express who he was. He took on a club persona of an Angel and when I played him in..1/5

movie, #PartyMonster, I felt and understood in a profound way, that those wings were as much a prayer for his own safety and protection than for any cosmetic effect.

I think he knew he needed protection in the world he’d found himself in... 2/5

the only world, I think, he thought was available to him. Tragically, it was there that he met his ultimate demise at the hands of his murderers. His head was bludgeoned, he was doused in bleach and dumped in a bathtub for a week before his legs were hacked off... 3/5

and he was thrown in the river. Another young, brown, queer boy murdered and he wasn’t even centered in that story when it was told.

Andre “Angel” Melendez, was a son, a brother and a friend. He was more than an anecdote in a murderer’s obituary... 4/5

He was the lead character in the movie of HIS life and today, I choose to remember HIM. #RIP #AngelMelendez 5/5