Remembering Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998)

:cry:

In Memory Of Matthew Shepard. ~*R.I.P*~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJfco_pLaZ8

Will The Hatred Ever End?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr82-9tCdSg&feature=related

Out of Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVMU6CcQQY4&feature=related

The Matthew Shepard Story (in 9 parts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuQuUqyg_3o&feature=related

I read that they were showing it today. It's heartbreaking. I hope that SOB was forced to watch it in prison.

:cry:

Never forgotten.

He can't truly "rest in peace" until this kind of shit stops.

Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was murdered near Laramie on the night of October 6–October 7, 1998. Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12, 1998, from severe head injuries. His murder brought national as well as international attention to the issue of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels.

Russell Arthur Henderson pleaded guilty to felony murder and kidnapping, allowing him to avoid the death penalty. Aaron James McKinney was convicted of felony murder and kidnapping. Henderson is currently serving two consecutive life sentences and McKinney is serving the same but without the possibility of parole.

Background

Shepard, oldest son of Dennis Shepard and Judy Shepard (née Peck), was born in Casper, Wyoming. He attended Crest Hill Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High, and the first two years of high school at Natrona County High School. He was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Shepard spent his junior and senior years of high school at The American School In Switzerland. After graduating in 1995, he attended Catawba College and Casper College before he relocated to Denver. Shepard then became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.

He was described by his parents and good close friend from Orlando, Florida, Frankie J. McGraw, as "...an optimistic and accepting young man ...... had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person that was very approachable and always looked to new challenges. Matthew had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people's differences."

The attack

Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard met McKinney and Henderson in a bar. McKinney and Henderson offered Shepard a ride in their car. Subsequently, Shepard was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence in a remote, rural area, and left to die. McKinney and Henderson also found out his address and intended to rob his home. Still tied to the fence, Shepard was discovered eighteen hours later by a cyclist, who at first thought that Shepard was a scarecrow. At the time of discovery, Shepard was still alive, but in a coma.

Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his bodys ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital signs. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. As he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.

He was pronounced dead at 12:53 A.M. on October 12, 1998 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun as well as the victim's shoes and wallet in their truck.

The two men had attempted to get their girlfriends to provide alibis.

<shamefully more><\b>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard

:cry:

The local HS did a production of the Laramie Project and You Know Who was there with his despicable lil band of hate merchants.

:grr:

foster this type of hate, but actively promulgates it. Although I do not consider myself a Christian--and certainly not in today's mangled definition thereof--I am quite well versed in the various scriptures and supposed teachings of Jesus Christ and its various denominations. And NO WHERE in anything attributed to the Christ, do I find ANYTHING that supports phelps and his miscreant followers and their hateful behaviors. phelps and his "followers" are the antithesis of Christianity. If there is an "AntiChrist," its name is fred phelps.

Those winger folks have the potential for the same kind of crime.

RIP, this country failed you.

dp

I'd like to believe at least some good came out of that horrible tragedy. Matthew's murder (as well as that of James Byrd, which happened right around the same time) woke a lot of people up to what the words "hate crime" actually meant.

No human being should never have to die like either of them did :cry:

So, so sad.

RIP Matthew.

A huge example of mans inhumanity to man.I will never forget this death and I hope that people have learned something about not judging their fellow man.We must learn from this and grow for Matthew who never harmed anyone.

I just can't understand why some people so filled with hate just because some people are gay? it boggles the mind. why cant people just be equal?

Ten years ago already. Rest in peace.

I wish Pelosi and the House Democrats had tried harder to pass the Shepard Act . . . perhaps with a certain NEW president?

:cry:

narrow minded homophobes.

RIP Matthew gone but Never forgotten!

:cry:

I really, really hate these people.

RIP Matthew.

I read a news story that said that his face was covered in dust and dirt from what he'd been through... the only clean parts were the tracks of his tears.

I can hardly bear to think of that, ten years later.

:cry:

R.I.P.

BTW, has anyone seen that special that was on HBO a few years ago? I think it was based off a play. It was really good.

The McCain-Palin campaign and the multi-million dollar anti gay campaign in California from Catholics, evangelicals, Mormons, Republicans and other hate groups will give permission for the worst elements in American society to act on their impulses.

...hard to believe it has been this long.

And on some days, it sure seems that things have not changed that much.

:cry:...RIP Matthew

forgot the horror of his story.

His testimony is what helped put the thugs who did this into prison where they belong.

I have never met my cousin but I sure would like to thank him some day.

Don

Thank him for anyone who believes justice MUST be done.

There aren't words harsh enough to express what was done to you. I hope you've found peace in a better place than this.

thank him for me! I'm glad those two monsters (that killed Matthew) will never again be free.

I hope his act passes before the 11th year is over.

Even thought it was painful to watch.

It's on the Lifetime Movie Network today at 11:00 am CST. I'm DVRing it. No excuse for me NOT to see it again TODAY.

RIP, Matthew. :cry: :grouphug: O8)

I offer this up in his memory:

lacrimae laramie


underneath God's own big sky
a man stands bound
on stony ground
cut and beaten, left to die
arms lashed wide
crucified

and the mercury falls like an angel
and the wind cries all night through the fence:
o laramie
lacrimae laramie
all across the pastures of plenty
where the cowboys embrace in their tents

Whose shepherd was he then?
You cursed his wounds
and the young men he knew
his crime was loving them
but the fire he drew
was for loving you

and the mercury falls, falls like an angel
and the wind cries all night through the fence:
o laramie
lacrimae laramie
across the pastures of plenty
where the cowboys embrace in their tents


10/14/98

© 1998 Hugh Blumenfeld/Hydrogen Jukebox Music

http://home.earthlink.net/~h2jukebox/mjdh.html#laramie


And I hope my fellow Oregonians help to soundly evict Gordon Smith from the Senate next month. The Republican who's been using Mathew Shepherd in his campaign commercials to paint himself as tolerant and compassionate.

i think i need to make a trip north today

rip matthew

:cry:

and an example of the attitude that killed him:



Sid

My dad had just died and there was a candle light vigil in the Village that I wanted to attend, but couldn't since my dad's funeral was the next morning in South Jersey.

Turns out the vigil turned violent when the protesters clashed with police. So maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I couldn't attend.

I wish nothing like that had ever happened...but this world is full of hateful people who take young innocent lives away for no reason at all. :cry: I cry every single time I see his picture. It pulls the tears out of me. I don't know how, but his death had such a profound effect on me. It still does to this day. I'll never forget the horror I felt when I learned of the attack on him. :cry:

Why do we GLBT people STILL have to endure such hatred to this day...and even sometimes by people we'd never expect to do such violent hateful things to us? Why? Can anyone give me one good reason why? Why do we get blamed for hurricanes, tornadoes, September 11th, divorce, child molestation, and all those other things we've been blamed for? No one will answer me. There is no good reason for it. It's a bunch of hate for nothing. I hope the time comes when we are finally exonerated and treated like human beings. I hope that day comes soon. :cry:

May your legacy never be in vain.

Seriously, thank you.

Rest In Peace Matthew...

:(

May your loving and comforting energy surround your mom and loved ones forever. We end hate!

We should always remember him.

:cry:

Here's one more,
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10697785

RIP Mathew...