Anti-gay protesters and anti-bias activists opened the lines of communication Sunday afternoon during a community forum entitled "Hurt, Hope and Healing: Our Community Responds to Fred Martinez’s Murder."

Since the June death of the openly transgendered Cortez teen, and subsequent media coverage addressing his sexuality as a possible motive for the murder, much attention has focused on the community’s mixed feelings towards gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

The diverse crowd of more than 80 gathered at the forum to express their feelings about hate-crime legislation, religious beliefs pertaining to homosexuality, sexual discrimination in the schools, and individuals’ rights to their own beliefs.

State Rep. Mark Larson (R-Colo.) spoke about a need to expand Colorado hate-crime law. Currently, people convicted of committing a criminal act against someone because of religion or ethnicity face a harsher jail sentence.

For the past five years, bills to extend protection to include sexual orientation, age and disability have been introduced in the state Legislature but have failed to pass.

"It’s not a benefit or a privilege — it’s a protection," Larson stated in response to a comment that there are already laws against murder and assault, and that the new law would give special privileges to certain classes.

Alan Cook of the Four Corners Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Diversity spoke about what it’s like to be an openly gay man in the community and responded to comments from the audience about homosexuality being sinful.

"I have my own personal relationship with my Lord," Cook told one man who made anti-gay biblical references. "I respect yours (beliefs) and I want you to respect mine."

The Rev. Dennis Garrou told the crowd that he believed "choice" and "acting on desires" were important focal points in the discussion of homosexuality as it pertains to Christianity. He gave the analogy of someone wanting something that didn’t belong to them and their "choice" to act on whether to steal it.

Cook, though, told the crowd there was never a point in his life that he "chose" to be gay.

"I don’t recall ever making a choice," he said. "I’ve never encountered anyone who has actively chosen either to be heterosexual or homosexual."

Gail Binkly, managing editor of the Journal, commented that the group’s tendency to focus on the issue of "choice" regarding homosexuality was straying from a more important issue.

"Whether homosexuality is or is not a choice — we can disagree on that," she said. "But one thing that is clear is that it was a choice for the person who killed Fred Martinez to go after him and beat him, and I think that is the choice we should focus upon. Those are the kinds of choices we don’t want people making — to attack people, physically harm or kill people, because they disagree about their religion or gender identity."

Following the two-hour forum, several people mingled with members of the opposition, exchanging business cards and further discussing their beliefs.

Martinez’s mother, Pauline Mitchell, told the Journal Monday that she felt the forum was a positive step for the community and hoped open discussions would continue in an effort for more tolerance and acceptance for people like her son.

"I’m just going to wait and see how the community responds," Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s friend Carolyn Wagner, vice president of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, echoed her skepticism yet voiced hope for change in the community.