Matthew Shepard: 13 Years Later, is the World a Better Place for LGBTs?
COMMENTARY | Thirteen years ago, Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and murdered when he was a college student at the University of Wyoming, all because of his sexual orientation. Although there have been some major strides since then in the way that lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders are treated, we still have a long way to go.
This kind and loving soul tragically lost his life at the young age of 21, all because of hate and ignorance. You would think that after more than a decade after this heinous murder, people would learn that hate only leads to violence. Hate starts wars. Yet people will continue to hate others for being different than they are as they have, likely, since human beings have been on earth.
Shepard became the face of the hate crimes legislation that was finally passed by President Obama in 2009, after a long, hard-fought battle by his mother. At the time of Shepard's death, crimes based on sexual orientation were not considered prosecutable as hate crimes.
To make matters worse, the men who were charged in the murder of Shepard tried to use the fact that he was gay as an excuse for his heinous killing, saying they were driven to temporary insanity because the student made sexual advances against them.
The world still has a long way to go in the way that LGBTs are seen. There were some in Congress who even fought against passing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act because of their own ignorance and dislike of those who are considered "different."
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., not only used the term "tar baby" during a House floor speech, but she tried to disguise her hatred of gays by calling Shepard's murder a "hoax." His mother was there listening.
Yes, we have made great strides, and even a few milestones in the way that LGBTs are treated. Today, there are even six states who allow same-sex marriage, and the hate crimes legislation was signed into law two years ago.
Unfortunately, we have miles to go before LGBTs are seen as equals and not as degenerates by a portion of the population. There are too many who use religion as an excuse to spread hate and even incite violence on LGBTs.
Just last month, a gay teen in New York was bullied so badly that he committed suicide. Shortly after his death, the students at his high school continued their attack against his sister, shouting that the boy was better off dead.
When the announcement was made that Chaz Bono, who is transgender, was going to be a cast member on the reality television show "Dancing with the Stars," many viewers complained. Some went as far as calling Bono evil, and stated that he will go to "hell."
Unfortunately, our nation, and the world, has a long way to go before it learns that hate is what will bring us all down. Love and tolerance is the only thing that will save us, no matter which God you believe in.
This kind and loving soul tragically lost his life at the young age of 21, all because of hate and ignorance. You would think that after more than a decade after this heinous murder, people would learn that hate only leads to violence. Hate starts wars. Yet people will continue to hate others for being different than they are as they have, likely, since human beings have been on earth.
Shepard became the face of the hate crimes legislation that was finally passed by President Obama in 2009, after a long, hard-fought battle by his mother. At the time of Shepard's death, crimes based on sexual orientation were not considered prosecutable as hate crimes.
To make matters worse, the men who were charged in the murder of Shepard tried to use the fact that he was gay as an excuse for his heinous killing, saying they were driven to temporary insanity because the student made sexual advances against them.
The world still has a long way to go in the way that LGBTs are seen. There were some in Congress who even fought against passing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act because of their own ignorance and dislike of those who are considered "different."
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., not only used the term "tar baby" during a House floor speech, but she tried to disguise her hatred of gays by calling Shepard's murder a "hoax." His mother was there listening.
Yes, we have made great strides, and even a few milestones in the way that LGBTs are treated. Today, there are even six states who allow same-sex marriage, and the hate crimes legislation was signed into law two years ago.
Unfortunately, we have miles to go before LGBTs are seen as equals and not as degenerates by a portion of the population. There are too many who use religion as an excuse to spread hate and even incite violence on LGBTs.
Just last month, a gay teen in New York was bullied so badly that he committed suicide. Shortly after his death, the students at his high school continued their attack against his sister, shouting that the boy was better off dead.
When the announcement was made that Chaz Bono, who is transgender, was going to be a cast member on the reality television show "Dancing with the Stars," many viewers complained. Some went as far as calling Bono evil, and stated that he will go to "hell."
Unfortunately, our nation, and the world, has a long way to go before it learns that hate is what will bring us all down. Love and tolerance is the only thing that will save us, no matter which God you believe in.
Published by K.C. Dermody - Featured Contributor in Travel
K.C. Dermody is a freelance writer, writing for YCN, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, and OMG! Yahoo as well as other web content projects, and working on a historical fiction novel based in ancient Ireland. She... View profile
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3 Comments
Post a Commentanirb, You go to any site about Shepard & try to muddy up his name with your homophobic rants & will not let up, no matter how many times you are asked to stop posting the same homophobic rants & obvious hatred. Matthew Shepard may not have been an angel, but to try to belittle him with your twisting of his beating, torture, being robbed & murdered as being a deserved outcome shows little more than the obvious that you have problems of your own. You need to stop your brigade to destroy an already dead man. Your rants are akin to McKinley's attorney & I wish to point out that not everything put out by the media is true. Look to the lie by Vanity Fair of his testing HIV+ in the hospital after the attack, yet the coroner said this was false. There's no reason to bring up a supposed false accusation by Matthew as he was MURDERED & can't verify the story nor defend himself. Get help anirb, you're like a dog chasing it's own tail: lots of action but getting no where.
Added note-if you want to look up Matthew Wayne Shepard's false homosexual gang rape accusation, you can find it in the Oct. 1998 newspaper article such as here http://www.deseretnews.com/article/657462/Wyoming-student-had-reported-previous-attacks.html as well as in the Oct. 1998 issue of Time Magazine shortly after his death. No, Matthew Wayne Shepard shouldn't have been killed in Oct. 1998 & Matthew Wayne Shepard's false homosexual gang rape accusation could've sent innocent men to prison. The excuse people have made for MW Shepard's false accusation is that he was drunk, suffered from PTSD.
My point is that Matthew Wayne Shepard was not a nice person. Some friends who knew MW Shepard have described him as a man with depression, moody & selfish. In a 20/20 interview in Nov. 2004, several pointed out that he used drugs incl. Meth-the same as the men who killed him. Could Matthew Wayne Shepard have 1st grabbed his killer's groin against will after which the man went into a rage hitting him 18 times with a gun into a coma & then tying him to fence with a friend? It's possible as MW Shepard 2 months before his death did harass a bartender by proposing to him after he said no & then grabbed his arm & jacket with threats like 'you're afraid of what I can do' after which the bartender decked him. MW Shepard feared he had AIDS & this along with him combining anti-depressants with drugs could've damaged MW Shepard's mind & thinking. No, MW Shepard shouldn't have been killed. If his killer's story is true, he is still guilty because he did not use just force to self-defend. If he had punched once or twice, then that would've been 1 thing but 18 times with a gun & then tying to fence was excessive & they're guilty though perhaps 2nd Degree rather than 1st. Yes, only MW Shepard & those who killed him know why it happened. My main point in this 2nd post on this topic is that Matthew Wayne Shepard was not a nice man regardless of why he was killed in Oct. 1998. What he did in August 1998 2 months before his death is enough reason to go to prison for a few years.
Most violence against gays & lesbians happen to be domestic violence cases. If a gay commits assault&battery on his gay lover it's usu. not going to be reported in the press as it's not interesting. If a gay kills his gay lover, it'll get minor press coverage. The Matthew Wayne Shepard case made the news because it's interesting. The press gave minor coverage to what Matthew Wayne Shepard did 2 months BEFORE his death in Aug. 1998. MW Shepard in August 1998 committed assault&battery on a Cody Wyoming bartender who reacted by decking Matthew Wayne Shepard. MW Shepard the next day falsely accused the Cody Wyoming bartender of homosexual rape by saying 3 men homosexually raped him. Medical tests came up negative as no sex had happened & the Cody police concluded the bartender self-defended.
MW Shepard should've been arrested for assault&battery along with falsely reporting a crime but he wasn't because perhaps the Cody police thought that him being decked was punishement enough. MW Shepard should've been in a Cody jail awaiting trial & hopefully conviction not Laramie that day. Why Matthew Wayne Shepard was killed on Oct. 1998, only he & his killers know.
But on another point-what you call 'gay panic' must be called the 'gay abuse' defense. If a gay is going to be anti-social such as harass a man (propose after a man has said no) or grab a man's groin against his will (assault&battery which you call unwanted sexual advances) after which the man reacts violently by bashing or killing the gay, the man reacted or overreacted to a crime that the gay did. It's the gay abused me reaction. If a man pinched a woman's butt or boobs after which the woman or the woman's boyfriend or husband bashes or kills the man, many would not sympathise with the man-they'd say that the man committed a crime for which he was bashed or killed though excessive force-most wouldn't hold vigils for him.
Gays have no right to harass others (propose after some1 has said no) & they have no right to commit assault&battery. So if a gay is going to be anti-social before the man bashes or kills him, it maybe excess force, but I don't believe the gay deserves vigils as the gay committed a crime before he was killed. Yes with self-defend you may only use just force. Murder has different degrees (1st, 2nd & Manslaughter) & if a defense lawyer wants to bring up abuse that the gay did before he was bashed or killed, then a jury decides if man's reaction was just or excess & if it's excessive force, then what degree to convict. I don't want gays committing harassment or assault&battery. So if a gay is going to grab a man's groin or butt against will after which the man reacts by killing the gay, Ok, it's probably excessive force, but again, it's an overreaction to a crime (assault&battery) that they gay did.