MATTHEW'S STORY
The story of Matthew Shepard began on December 1, 1976 when he was born to Judy and Dennis Shepard in Casper, Wyoming. He went to public school in Casper until his junior year of high school when he moved with his family to Saudi Arabia. Matt had to finish his high school education at The American School in Switzerland because there were no American high schools in Saudi Arabia at the time. In both high schools, he was elected by his peers to be a peer counselor. He was easy to talk to, made friends easily and actively fought for the acceptance of all people. Matt had a great passion for equality. His experiences abroad fueled his love for travel and gave him the chance to make many new friends from around the world. Matt’s college career eventually took him back to Wyoming where he studied political science, foreign relations and languages at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
The horrific events that took place shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998 went against everything that Matt embodied. Two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, lead him to a remote area east of Laramie, Wyoming. He was tied to a split-rail fence where the two men severely assaulted him. He was beaten and left to die in the cold of the night. Almost 18 hours later, he was found by a bicyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. Matt died on October 12 at 12:53 a.m. at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado with his family by his side. His memorial service was attended by friends and family from around the world and garnered immense media attention that brought Matt’s story to the forefront of the fight against bigotry and hate. The life and death of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about, and deal with, hate in America. Since his death, Matt’s legacy has challenged and inspired millions of individuals to erase hate in all its forms. Although Matt’s life was short, his story continues to have a great impact on young and old alike. His legacy lives on in thousands of people like you who actively fight to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance.
(http://www.matthewshepard.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Our_Story_Main_Page)
The story above is a tragic one that unfortunately happens more than we might think it does. Below is a brief paragraph about Judy Shepard, Matt's mother and her advocacy and activism for gay/lesbian rights...
In 1998, Judy Shepard lost her son, Matthew, to a murder motivated by anti-gay hate. Turning tragedy into a crusade for justice, and determined to prevent Matthew’s fate from befalling others, she established The Matthew Shepard Foundation to help carry on his legacy.
Activist speaker Judy Shepard has appeared in two Human Rights Campaign advertisements urging an end to anti-gay violence and promoting a greater understanding of gay issues. She is also actively involved with Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). In this capacity, she has written an open letter to schools across the country urging officials to make schools safer for gay students by promoting tolerance and diversity.
Most recently, Judy Shepard authored the New York Times best-selling book, The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed, a moving, intimate look at how her life, and the entire fight for equal rights, changed when her son was killed.
(http://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers.aspx?name=Judy+Shepard)
We wanted to leave all of you with this final story in hopes that it will encourage each of you to act out against the oppression, discrimination, and hatred that the GLBT community suffers.... if you could leave us with your thoughts on that, we would be grateful...
Thanks for following our blog!
-Jarica, Jess, Laine, & Morgan (Group 5)
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Thank you group 5! Your posts have been informative and interesting throughout the whole semester. Unfortunately, as sad as it is, you ended it perfectly. I knew this story but I didn't know Matthew's background, (travel, etc). Thank you for giving me more information about Matthew himself and it worked, a reminder of Matthew's story has been a reminder to me to stand up against oppression.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a great movie on Matthew's murder that depicts the hate crime in a sad but realistic manner. This movie was the first movie I ever watched about homosexuals and hate crimes and it influenced me a lot. I encourage everyone to see it.
ReplyDeleteThis was powerful. It made me cry. And I will work hard to do my part to act out against the oppression, discrimination, and hatred of the GLBT community and all others.
ReplyDeleteI saw that movie to Carolyn and it was the first real experience I had with a hate crime of that sort. I have to say the movie upset me very much. I don't remember the name of it, but there was a similar movie out about a transgendered person who ended up being killed in a hate crime too, (it was a true story). I don't like to use the word ignorant - but actually killing someone because of their sexual orientation - I don't know how else to think of that??
ReplyDeleteThank you so much group 5 for all your valuable information this semester! I'm glad you told the story of Matthew and his mother because I think it does compel people to speak up for oppressed people and populations. It's easy to forget stories like this after the media is tired of telling it and the lessons seem to be forgotten sometimes with the story. I remember hearing about this story and I remember being so sad even though I wasn't totally aware at the time of why.
ReplyDeleteBeing a lesbian myself this blog was important to me. Starting with the pornography one and the question as to whether lesbians are just a straight man's fantasy. I wasn't out in high school, but one male told me countless times that I should be a lesbian so he could watch me with his girlfriend sometime. When I tell males that I am gay they ask why my partner isn't around so they can watch. (I also identify myself as a lipstick lesbian, I'm really feminine and people label me as straight.) Gays in the millitary, well it's not any better, but it's on its way. I have faith that with time.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the marriage one, it struck emotion. I remember voting, then waiting all day to receive the results. I went to go play basketball with some guy friends and my friend was sending me the percentages as they came in for each area. When I finally received the results I cried, but it was very close. Again with time, it will change. The one thing that upset me most was that my parents didn't vote. They don't know I am gay, but I would have liked to know that they voted for equality, but not voting is better than voting against it. The rest of my family however, voted No! For that I was grateful. I agree with Jess on all the rights we would gain by allowing marriage to pass. That is all I want for my future and all other Gay and Lesbian couples.
I am glad in the SRS blog you listed the identities and defined them, such as transexual and transgender. So many people have trouble understanding those identities and knowing the differences between them.
Overall fantastic blog! Very well informative. Thank you so much for the knowledge of the GLBT Community that you have given to me and other people! :o)
Wow Jess, thank you for sharing that story. I remember waiting for the results too. My niece called me up crying. I felt so bad. I can't imagine how it is for you..not only do your parents not know that you are a lesbian, but they didn't vote...I hope you found solace in the fact that the rest of your family voted in favor of gay marriage and you seem to have supportive friends. Still I know how important parents are..
ReplyDeleteI also am aware of what happened to Matthew, but I wasn't aware of wht his mom has done in responce. I think it is great that she wrote an open letter to the schools to promote tolerance and diversity. I don't remember the high school I attened to ever talk about gays. It is so important to educate kids from a young age about diversty!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog site! I appreciate all that you have posted and it has opened my eyes to many new thoughts!
Wow that story was a very touching one! It made me sad to hear how bad people can get treated because of anti-gay hate. It is very frustrating to know that people get treated like this way too often. I am going to do my best to help out against the hatred toward GLBT. I think is is a great thing that Matthew's mom is doing. I had not heard about the story so thanks for sharing that!
ReplyDeleteI also saw the movie about Mathew Sheppard and it was certainly one of the more touching films i've seen. It is amazing to me how people can be so prejudice and hateful. It makes no sense to me... having that much hate in you all the time really makes you miserable.
ReplyDeleteThis was a powerful post. Your group blog was one of my favorites, things were always very interesting!
ReplyDelete