Matthew Shepard

Shepard was born in Casper, Wyoming, the first of two sons born to Judy Peck and Dennis Shepard. His younger brother Logan was born in 1981. He attended Crest Hill Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High School, and Natrona County High School for his freshman through junior years. Saudi Aramco hired his father in the summer of 1994, and his parents subsequently resided at the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran. During that time, Shepard attended The American School In Switzerland (TASIS),^[4] from which he graduated in May 1995. Shepard then attended Catawba College in North Carolina and Casper College in Wyoming, before settling in Denver, Colorado. Shepard became a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.^[2]

He was described by his father as "an optimistic and accepting young man who had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person who 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."^[5]

In February 1995, during a high school trip to Morocco, Shepard was beaten and raped, causing him to experience depression and panic attacks, according to his mother. One of Shepard's friends feared that his depression had driven him to become involved with drugs during his time in college.^[6]

On the night of October 6–7, 1998, Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming.^[7][8] It was decided that McKinney and Henderson would give Shepard a ride home.^[9] McKinney and Henderson subsequently drove the car to a remote, rural area and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tying him to a fence and leaving him to die. According to their court testimony, McKinney and Henderson also discovered his address and intended to steal from his home. Still tied to the fence, Shepard, who was still alive but in a coma, was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, a cyclist who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow.^[10]

Reggie Fluty, the first police officer on the scene, found Shepard alive but covered in blood. The medical gloves issued by the Albany County Sheriff's Department were faulty and Fluty's supply ran out. She decided to use her bare hands to clear an airway in Shepard's bloody mouth. A day later, she was informed that Shepard was HIV positive and that she had been exposed because of cuts on her hands. After taking an AZT regimen for several months, she proved not to have been infected.^[11] Judy Shepard later wrote she learned of Matthew's HIV status during his stay at the hospital following the attack.^[12]

Shepard had suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear. He experienced severe brainstem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions. 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. While he lay in intensive care, and in the days following the attack, candlelight vigils were held around the world.^[13][14][15]

Shepard was pronounced dead at 12:53 a.m. on October 12, 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital, in Fort Collins, Colorado.^{[16][17][18][19]} He was 21 years old.^[7]

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps, received national attention for picketing Shepard's funeral with signs bearing homophobic slogans.^[20]

Police arrested Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson shortly after the attack, finding the bloody gun and Shepard's shoes and wallet in their truck.^[21] Henderson and McKinney later tried to persuade their girlfriends to provide alibis for them.^[22]

At trial, McKinney offered various rationales to justify his actions. He originally pleaded the gay panic defense, arguing that he and Henderson were driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Shepard. At another point, McKinney's lawyer stated that they had wanted to rob Shepard but never intended to kill him.^[21]

The prosecutor in the case alleged that McKinney and Henderson pretended to be gay in order to gain Shepard's trust.^[23] During the trial, Kristen Price, girlfriend of McKinney, testified that Henderson and McKinney had "pretended they were gay to get [Shepard] in the truck and rob him".^[24][25] McKinney and Henderson went to the Fireside Lounge and selected Shepard after he arrived. McKinney alleged that Shepard asked them for a ride home.^[24]

After befriending him, they took him to a remote area outside of Laramie where they robbed him, assaulted him severely, and tied him to a fence with a rope from McKinney's truck while Shepard pleaded for his life. Media reports often contained the graphic account of the pistol whipping and his fractured skull. It was reported that Shepard was beaten so brutally that his face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by his tears.^[26][27] Both girlfriends also testified that neither McKinney nor Henderson were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time.^[28][29]

Henderson pleaded guilty on April 5, 1999 and agreed to testify against McKinney to avoid the death penalty; he received two consecutive life sentences. The jury in McKinney's trial found him guilty of felony murder. As they began to deliberate on the death penalty, Shepard's parents brokered a deal, resulting in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.^[30]

Henderson and McKinney were incarcerated in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins, later being transferred to other prisons because of overcrowding.^[31]

Henderson and McKinney were not charged with a hate crime, because no Wyoming criminal statute provided for such a charge.^[32] The nature of Shepard's murder led to requests for new legislation addressing hate crime, urged particularly by those who believed that Shepard was targeted on the basis of his sexual orientation.^[33][34] Under then United States federal law^[35] and Wyoming state law,^[36] crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation were not prosecutable as hate crimes.

In the following session of the Wyoming Legislature, a bill was introduced defining certain attacks motivated by victim identity as hate crimes, however the measure failed on a 30-30 tie in the Wyoming House of Representatives.^[37]

At the federal level, then-President Bill Clinton renewed attempts to extend federal hate crime legislation to include homosexual individuals, women, and people with disabilities.^[38] These efforts were rejected by the United States House of Representatives in 1999.^{[citation needed]} In September 2000, both houses of Congress passed such legislation; however it was stripped out in conference committee.^[39]

On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (H.R. 1592) was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors. Shepard's parents were present at the introduction ceremony. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 3, 2007. Similar legislation passed in the Senate on September 27, 2007^[40] (S. 1105), however then-President George W. Bush indicated he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk.^[41] The amendment was dropped by the Democratic leadership because of opposition from conservative groups and Bush, and due to the measure being attached to a defense bill there was a lack of support from antiwar Democrats.^[42]

On December 10, 2007, congressional powers attached bipartisan hate crimes legislation to a Department of Defense Authorization bill, though failed to get it passed. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said she "is still committed to getting the Matthew Shepard Act passed." Pelosi planned to get the bill passed in early 2008^[43] though did not succeed in that plan. Following his election as President, Barack Obama stated that he was committed to passing the Act.^[44]

The U.S. House of Representatives debated expansion of hate crimes legislation on April 29, 2009. During the debate, Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina called the "hate crime" labeling of Shepard's murder a "hoax". Shepard's mother was said to be in the House gallery when the congresswoman made this comment.^[45] Foxx later called her comments "a poor choice of words".^[46] The House passed the act, designated H.R. 1913, by a vote of 249 to 175.^[47] The bill was introduced in the Senate on April 28 by Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, and a bipartisan coalition;^[48] it had 43 cosponsors as of June 17, 2009. The Matthew Shepard Act was adopted as an amendment to S.1390 by a vote of 63-28 on July 15, 2009.^[49] On October 22, 2009, the act was passed by the Senate by a vote of 68-29.^[50] President Obama signed the measure into law on October 28, 2009.^[51][52]

Romaine Patterson, a friend of Shepard, organized a group of individuals who assembled in a circle around the Westboro Baptist Church protest group, wearing white robes and gigantic wings (resembling angels) that blocked the protesters. Police had to create a human barrier between the two protest groups.^[53]

While the organization had no name in the initial demonstration, it has since been ascribed various titles, including 'Angels of Peace' and 'Angel Action'.^[53][54] The fence to which Shepard was tied and left to die became an impromptu shrine for visitors, who left notes, flowers, and other mementos. It has since been removed by the land owner.

The murder continued to attract public attention and media coverage long after the trial was over. In 2004, the ABC News program 20/20 aired a controversial report quoting claims by McKinney, Henderson, and Kristen Price, the prosecutor and a lead investigator that the murder had not been motivated by Shepard's sexuality but rather was merely a drug-related robbery that had turned violent.^[21] Critics charged that the report, which featured interviews with Shepard's murderers, was sensational, misleading, and downplayed or ignored evidence of homophobia as a motivation for the crime.^{[55][56][57][58]}

Dave O'Malley, the Laramie police commander over the investigations division at the time of Shepard's murder,^[59] stated that the murderers' claims were not credible, but the prosecutor in the case stated that there was ample evidence that drugs were at least a factor in the murder.^[60] Other coverage focused on how these more recent statements contradicted those made at and near the trial.^[61]

In September 2013, The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard by Stephen Jimenez, the producer of the 20/20 segment, was published. The book revived and expanded upon claims by the author that Shepard's murder was at least partly drug-related and that, contrary to the generally accepted version of events, his sexual orientation was not a major motive for the crime. Additionally the author claimed that Shepard and at least one of his killers (McKinney) had been occasional sexual partners.^[62][63] This book has, however, been criticized by culture critic Alyssa Rosenberg as being poorly sourced.^[64] Police officials interviewed after the book's publication have also disputed the claims made in the book. Dave O'Malley said that Jimenez's claims that Shepard was "a methamphetamine kingpin [] is almost humorous. Someone that would buy into that certainly would believe almost anything they read." Rob Debree, lead sheriff's investigator at the time, said that the book contains "factual errors and lies", and said that Jimenez's claim that Shepard was a drug dealer is "truly laughable."^[59]

Many musicians have written and recorded songs about the murder, including the Melissa Etheridge song "Scarecrow" on her 1999 album Breakdown. Elton John's 2001 album Songs from the West Coast included "American Triangle" (originally titled "American Tragedy"), a song about Shepard's murder. The American metal band Trivium also composed and recorded "And Sadness Will Sear" on their third album, The Crusade, in honor of Shepard and in protest of closed-mindedness and prejudice.

The American rock band Thursday recorded a song named after Shepard, "M. Shepard", on their 2003 album War All the Time. Lady Gaga performed John Lennon's "Imagine" at the Human Rights Campaign's annual National Dinner in 2009 and changed the lyrics from "above us only sky" to "with only Matthew in the sky".^[65] "Elegy for Matthew," a work for chorus and orchestra by composer David Conte on a poem by John Stirling Walker, was commissioned by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus and was premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1999.(mp3 of SATB version)(mp3 of TTBB version)

A play, three narrative films, and a documentary were made about Shepard: The Laramie Project, The Matthew Shepard Story, Anatomy of a Hate Crime, and Laramie Inside Out, and Moral Obligations, a fictionalized account of the night of the murder. The Laramie Project (a play, later turned into a film by HBO) compiles dozens of interviews with citizens of the town of Laramie ranging from a few months after the attack to a few years after. The play is designed to display the town's reaction to the crime.^[66][67]

Ten years later, The Laramie Project created a second play, based on interviews with members of the town, Shepard's mother, and his incarcerated murderer.^[68]

October Mourning by Lesléa Newman, a novel in verse about Matthew's murder, was published in 2012.^[69]

The first openly gay NBA player, Jason Collins, wore the jersey number "98" in honor of Shepard during the 2012–2013 season with the Boston Celtics.^[70]

In the years following Shepard's death, his mother Judy Shepard has become a well-known advocate for LGBT rights, particularly issues relating to gay youth.

His mother is a prime force behind the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which supports diversity and tolerance in youth organizations. The group was founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of Matthew.

The Foundation focuses on three primary areas: erasing hate in society; putting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth first; and ensuring equality for all LGBT Americans.

The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed is a 2009 biographical book by Judy Shepard about her son Matthew Shepard. Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, her family memories of Matthew, and the tragic event that changed the Shepards' lives and America. The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the big response, candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew's murderers were on trial.

In the book, Judy Shepard explains why she became a gay rights activist, and the challenges and rewards of raising a gay child in America today.

• Violence against LGBT people

• Shepard, Judy; (2009). The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. New York, NY: Penguin Group USA. ISBN 978-1-59463-057-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Campbell, Shannon; Laura Castaneda (2005). News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN 1-4129-0998-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Fondakowski, Leigh; Kaufman, Moises (2001). The Laramie project. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-375-72719-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Garceau, Dee; Basso, Matthew; McCall, Laura (2001). Across the Great Divide: cultures of manhood in the American West. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92471-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Hinds, Patrick; Romaine Patterson (2005). The Whole World Was Watching: Living in the Light of Matthew Shepard. Advocate Books. ISBN 1-55583-901-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Loffreda, Beth (2000). Losing Matt Shepard: life and politics in the aftermath of anti-gay murder. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11859-7.
• Swigonski, Mary E.; Mama, Robin S.; Ward, Kelly (2001). From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard. New York: Routledge. ISBN 1-56023-256-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• McConnell, David; (2013). American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men. Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1617751325.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• "The Laramie project" by Moises Kaufman

• The Matthew Shepard Foundation
• Matthew Shepard Resource Site at the University of Wyoming
• Matthew Shepard collection at the University of Wyoming - American Heritage Center

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