LGBTQ+ History Month: gay victims and survivors of the Holot are often fotten – we need to tell their stori

Contents:

• HERE ARE THE FIVE VICTIMS WHO WERE KILLED COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG
• 'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE
• LAST CALL IS ABOUT A MURRER—AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, HIS GAY VICTIMS“IT WAS IMPORTANT TO LET QUEER PEOPLE TELL THIS STORY,” SAYS THE DIRECTOR OF HBO’S LAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORK.BY EVE BATEYJULY 6, 2023COURTY OF HBO.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVE“I WASN'T TERTED DOG TE CRIME,” SAYS ANTHONY CARONNA, DIRECTOR OF THE HBO DOCERI LAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORK. “I WAS VERY, VERY AAID OF REVICTIMIZG THE MUNY. SO I PASSED ON .”ABOUT A YEAR LATER, CARONNA WARMED UP TO THE IA OF ADAPTG ELON GREEN’S 2021 BOOK—THE SIARLY TLED LAST CALL: A TE STORY OF LOVE, LT, AND MURR QUEER NEW YORK. HE CREDS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER HOWARD GERTLER FOR CHANGG HIS MD.“HOWARD SAID THAT WHEN HE READ , HE FELT LIKE THERE WAS A REAL OPPORTUNY TO TELL A SOCIAL JTICE STORY AND E TE CRIME AS THIS TROJAN HORSE TO BRG PEOPLE —PEOPLE LOVE TE CRIME—AND THEN TELL A MUCH BIGGER STORY ABOUT THE ANTI-QUEER VLENCE MOVEMENT.”ACRDG TO GREEN, WHO IS ALSO AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ON THE SHOW, THE RULT IS A FOUR-PART SERI (THE FIRST EPISO AIRS AND STREAMS ON SUNDAY, JULY 9) THAT BUILDS SIGNIFINTLY ON HIS BOOK ABOUT THE CRIM OF RICHARD ROGERS, WHO WAS NVICTED 2005 OF KILLG AND DISMEMBERG TWO MEN BETWEEN 1992 AND 1993, AND SPECTED OF KILLG AT LEAST FIVE OTHERS. GREEN SAYS THAT THE SHOW TOOK WHAT WAS SENTIALLY A HISTORY OF NEW YORK’S GAY SCENE THE EARLY 1990S AND MA RELEVANT TO TODAY. “IT'S NOT JT A VIEW OF THE PAST,” GREEN SAYS, “BUT 'S ALSO SO OF THE MOMENT.”IT’S ALSO THE STORY OF A SE THAT, OTHER THAN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE HERE OR THERE, WAS LARGELY IGNORED UNTIL GREEN WROTE HIS BOOK. “IT'S THE KD OF THG WHERE IF YOU SQUT, YOU N SEE EXACTLY WHY THIS DIDN'T GENERATE ANY PRS,” GREEN SAYS, CG THE AIDS EPIMIC AND NEW YORK’S HIGH CRIME RATE AT THE TIME. “AND OF URSE, DIDN'T HELP [THAT] THE VICTIMS WERE PRUMED TO BE GAY. IF YOU WERE GOG TO HAVE YOUR MURR WRTEN ABOUT THOSE YEARS, YOU HAD TO BE STRAIGHT AND WHE, AND YOU'D HAVE TO BE KILLED CENTRAL PARK.”COURTY OF HBO.ANOTHER THG THAT SETS LAST CALL APART IS WHO SPEAKS MOST LOUDLY ACROSS THE SERI. TE CRIME MEDIA OFTEN CENTERS ON THE VOICE OF THE KILLER—PARTICULARLY WHEN THAT KILLER’S TARGETS ARE MEMBERS OF A STIGMATIZED OR MARGALIZED MUNY. THIS MAK SENSE AS A PRACTIL MATTER; THE VICTIMS, AFTER ALL, N’T SPEAK FOR THEMSELV. BUT ’S ALSO WHY THE TE CRIME GENRE HAS A REPUTATN FOR BEG EXPLOATIVE, OR GLORIFYG SOCIETY’S WORST ACTORS.IN LAST CALL, THOUGH, THE MAJORY OF OUR TIME IS SPENT WH THE IENDS AND FAY OF THE SLA, AS WELL AS MEMBERS OF THE CY’S GAY MUNY THE EARLY 1990S, WHEN THE AIDS CRISIS FLAMED HOMOPHOBIC FEARS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS NFOUND BY—OR OPENLY HOSTILE TO—LGBTQ+ PEOPLE.MOST POPULARAND JT LIKE THAT… PREPAR FOR ITS LAST SUPPERBY CHRIS MURPHYRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHTHE TV MOVIE IS MAKG A WEIRD, WONRFUL COMEBACKBY DAVID CANFIELD“OFTENTIM, TE CRIME, WE LET THE POLICE AND THE PERPETRATORS N THE SHOW,” CARONNA SAYS. “IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HOWARD AND ME TO LET QUEER PEOPLE TELL THIS STORY,” PECIALLY SCE SYSTEMIC HOMOPHOBIA AND THE ANTIPATHY BETWEEN THE LGBTQ+ MUNY AND THE POLICE APPARENTLY HELPED ROGERS M HIS CRIM WHOUT FEAR OF NSEQUENCE.THAT SAID, POLICE OFFICERS AND SE VTIGATORS ALSO APPEAR PROMENTLY LAST CALL, THOUGH THE SERI PULLS FEW PUNCH WHEN TO PICTG WHAT GERTLER LITELY REFERS TO AS “AWARENS GAPS THE CULTURAL PETENCY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.”ONE SUCH MOMENT LATER THE SERI, WHEN AN VTIGATG OFFICER VERBALLY STUMBL AND FALLS SILENT WHEN SCRIBG WHAT A LLECTN OF GOLN GIRLS VIO TAP MIGHT SAY ABOUT S OWNER. “I FEEL LIKE EVERY TIME WE SAT DOWN WH AN VTIGATOR, I DIDN'T HAVE THE TENT TO MAKE THEM LOOK BAD, OR HAVE A GOTCHA MOMENT,” CARONNA SAYS. “BUT I AM LOOKG TO JT UNRSTAND, EVEN JT FOR MYSELF, WHERE THE CULTURAL BLD SPOTS LIE THIS VTIGATN.”FROM SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAG FOR HBO.USG A VAST AMOUNT OF ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE—CLUDG 1950S-ERA STRANGER-DANGER FILMS OM LOL POLICE PARTMENTS, 1990S TALK SHOW TERVIEWS WH ANTI-GAY FIGUR, AND POLIL SPEECH OM THE TIM—LAST CALL ILLTRAT HOW HOMOPHOBIA WASN’T ONLY RPONSIBLE FOR THE VTIGATN’S FAILGS. ACRDG TO CARONNA, ROGERS HIMSELF WAS MOTIVATED BY ANTI-GAY SENTIMENTS, EVEN THOUGH 'S WILY BELIEVED THAT ROGERS WAS GAY.“THERE'S NO QUTN THAT THIS WAS THAT THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ANTI-GAY VLENCE,” CARONNA SAYS. “RICHARD GREW UP HEARG ALL OF THOSE THGS THAT THE GAY BASHER EPISO ONE HEARD, THAT ANA BRYANT HEARD, THAT WE'VE ALL HEARD GROWG UP AMERI.”IT’S A TRICKY THG, 2023, TO TELL A STORY ABOUT A REPORTEDLY GAY SERIAL KILLER WHOUT ADVERTENTLY VALIDATG THE CREASGLY HOMOPHOBIC FAR RIGHT. THAT CHALLENGE ISN’T LOST ON CARONNA, WHO SAYS THE PORTN OF THE SERI THAT DISCS ROGERS’S SEXUAL ORIENTATN “WENT THROUGH PROBABLY MORE ERATNS AND ANY OTHER SECTN THE SHOW,” AS THEY KNEW HOW MIGHT BE RECEIVED BY THOSE LOOKG FOR EVEN MORE REASONS TO MARGALIZE THE LGBTQ+ MUNY. “I KNEW THIS WAS A VERY DIFFICULT STORY TO TELL, WHICH IS WHY I WAS AAID TO TELL THE FIRST PLACE,” HE SAYS.THOSE FEARS WENT AWAY, CARONNA SAYS, AS HE STARTED REARCHG THE SE, AND VISUALIZG HOW A SERI MIGHT LOOK. “YEAH, IS MSY. BUT STILL, I THK 'S WAY MORE IMPORTANT TO TELL THIS STORY THAN TO BE AAID THAT WE'RE GONNA FFLE SOME FEATHERS.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMERA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDTHE 25 BT SHOWS ON NETFLIX TO WATCH RIGHT NOWFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)EVE BATEY
• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS COULD REMOVE IT NEXT YEAR
• 'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY

HERE ARE THE FIVE VICTIMS WHO WERE KILLED COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG

Colorado Sprgs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez intified all five victims at a news nference Monday is what we know about Aston, an undated photo, was one of five people killed late Saturday when a gunman opened fire a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs. Wh It's a S, Davi ptur the tragic irony of an era where gay men were jt startg to enjoy some amount of eedom after hard-fought battl for liberatn, only to be ravaged by an unseen viral predator.

HIV/AIDS is far om jt a gay man's disease, but as s first victims — predomantly gay men — started fillg up ICUs and mu, a backlash agast them ensued.

'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE

Olly Alexanr, who's 30, has been open about beg a victim of anti-gay bullyg growg up, says his school experience was fely fluenced by that backlash. "You know, now that I'm lookg back, I realize what a huge impact that had on me as I was g to terms wh my own sexualy and the word gay and AIDS were ed as jok the playground.

Though Rchie might be the fierct nialist the seri, 's clear that at least at the outset, most of It's a S's gay characters n't be bothered to stop the party. Sensg the impendg wave of fectns, olr gay men try, to no avail, to warn their younger unterparts, but their advisory posters are rejected om gay bars and their worri are shunned as simply attempts to prive a younger generatn of their newfound sexual eedom.

Jill is a straight woman livg the Pk Palace wh her gay iends, and though we don't learn much about her personal story, she do a lot of the show's emotnal labor — whether 's phonebankg, prott anizg or holdg the hands of the abandoned and dyg — and she do all wh ltle regnn. Parents would get word their children were sick and they'd whisk them back home, sometim lerally burng all of the artifacts of their gay liv the procs.

LAST CALL IS ABOUT A MURRER—AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, HIS GAY VICTIMS“IT WAS IMPORTANT TO LET QUEER PEOPLE TELL THIS STORY,” SAYS THE DIRECTOR OF HBO’S LAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORK.BY EVE BATEYJULY 6, 2023COURTY OF HBO.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVE“I WASN'T TERTED DOG TE CRIME,” SAYS ANTHONY CARONNA, DIRECTOR OF THE HBO DOCERI LAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORK. “I WAS VERY, VERY AAID OF REVICTIMIZG THE MUNY. SO I PASSED ON .”ABOUT A YEAR LATER, CARONNA WARMED UP TO THE IA OF ADAPTG ELON GREEN’S 2021 BOOK—THE SIARLY TLED LAST CALL: A TE STORY OF LOVE, LT, AND MURR QUEER NEW YORK. HE CREDS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER HOWARD GERTLER FOR CHANGG HIS MD.“HOWARD SAID THAT WHEN HE READ , HE FELT LIKE THERE WAS A REAL OPPORTUNY TO TELL A SOCIAL JTICE STORY AND E TE CRIME AS THIS TROJAN HORSE TO BRG PEOPLE —PEOPLE LOVE TE CRIME—AND THEN TELL A MUCH BIGGER STORY ABOUT THE ANTI-QUEER VLENCE MOVEMENT.”ACRDG TO GREEN, WHO IS ALSO AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ON THE SHOW, THE RULT IS A FOUR-PART SERI (THE FIRST EPISO AIRS AND STREAMS ON SUNDAY, JULY 9) THAT BUILDS SIGNIFINTLY ON HIS BOOK ABOUT THE CRIM OF RICHARD ROGERS, WHO WAS NVICTED 2005 OF KILLG AND DISMEMBERG TWO MEN BETWEEN 1992 AND 1993, AND SPECTED OF KILLG AT LEAST FIVE OTHERS. GREEN SAYS THAT THE SHOW TOOK WHAT WAS SENTIALLY A HISTORY OF NEW YORK’S GAY SCENE THE EARLY 1990S AND MA RELEVANT TO TODAY. “IT'S NOT JT A VIEW OF THE PAST,” GREEN SAYS, “BUT 'S ALSO SO OF THE MOMENT.”IT’S ALSO THE STORY OF A SE THAT, OTHER THAN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE HERE OR THERE, WAS LARGELY IGNORED UNTIL GREEN WROTE HIS BOOK. “IT'S THE KD OF THG WHERE IF YOU SQUT, YOU N SEE EXACTLY WHY THIS DIDN'T GENERATE ANY PRS,” GREEN SAYS, CG THE AIDS EPIMIC AND NEW YORK’S HIGH CRIME RATE AT THE TIME. “AND OF URSE, DIDN'T HELP [THAT] THE VICTIMS WERE PRUMED TO BE GAY. IF YOU WERE GOG TO HAVE YOUR MURR WRTEN ABOUT THOSE YEARS, YOU HAD TO BE STRAIGHT AND WHE, AND YOU'D HAVE TO BE KILLED CENTRAL PARK.”COURTY OF HBO.ANOTHER THG THAT SETS LAST CALL APART IS WHO SPEAKS MOST LOUDLY ACROSS THE SERI. TE CRIME MEDIA OFTEN CENTERS ON THE VOICE OF THE KILLER—PARTICULARLY WHEN THAT KILLER’S TARGETS ARE MEMBERS OF A STIGMATIZED OR MARGALIZED MUNY. THIS MAK SENSE AS A PRACTIL MATTER; THE VICTIMS, AFTER ALL, N’T SPEAK FOR THEMSELV. BUT ’S ALSO WHY THE TE CRIME GENRE HAS A REPUTATN FOR BEG EXPLOATIVE, OR GLORIFYG SOCIETY’S WORST ACTORS.IN LAST CALL, THOUGH, THE MAJORY OF OUR TIME IS SPENT WH THE IENDS AND FAY OF THE SLA, AS WELL AS MEMBERS OF THE CY’S GAY MUNY THE EARLY 1990S, WHEN THE AIDS CRISIS FLAMED HOMOPHOBIC FEARS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS NFOUND BY—OR OPENLY HOSTILE TO—LGBTQ+ PEOPLE.MOST POPULARAND JT LIKE THAT… PREPAR FOR ITS LAST SUPPERBY CHRIS MURPHYRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHTHE TV MOVIE IS MAKG A WEIRD, WONRFUL COMEBACKBY DAVID CANFIELD“OFTENTIM, TE CRIME, WE LET THE POLICE AND THE PERPETRATORS N THE SHOW,” CARONNA SAYS. “IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HOWARD AND ME TO LET QUEER PEOPLE TELL THIS STORY,” PECIALLY SCE SYSTEMIC HOMOPHOBIA AND THE ANTIPATHY BETWEEN THE LGBTQ+ MUNY AND THE POLICE APPARENTLY HELPED ROGERS M HIS CRIM WHOUT FEAR OF NSEQUENCE.THAT SAID, POLICE OFFICERS AND SE VTIGATORS ALSO APPEAR PROMENTLY LAST CALL, THOUGH THE SERI PULLS FEW PUNCH WHEN TO PICTG WHAT GERTLER LITELY REFERS TO AS “AWARENS GAPS THE CULTURAL PETENCY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.”ONE SUCH MOMENT LATER THE SERI, WHEN AN VTIGATG OFFICER VERBALLY STUMBL AND FALLS SILENT WHEN SCRIBG WHAT A LLECTN OF GOLN GIRLS VIO TAP MIGHT SAY ABOUT S OWNER. “I FEEL LIKE EVERY TIME WE SAT DOWN WH AN VTIGATOR, I DIDN'T HAVE THE TENT TO MAKE THEM LOOK BAD, OR HAVE A GOTCHA MOMENT,” CARONNA SAYS. “BUT I AM LOOKG TO JT UNRSTAND, EVEN JT FOR MYSELF, WHERE THE CULTURAL BLD SPOTS LIE THIS VTIGATN.”FROM SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAG FOR HBO.USG A VAST AMOUNT OF ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE—CLUDG 1950S-ERA STRANGER-DANGER FILMS OM LOL POLICE PARTMENTS, 1990S TALK SHOW TERVIEWS WH ANTI-GAY FIGUR, AND POLIL SPEECH OM THE TIM—LAST CALL ILLTRAT HOW HOMOPHOBIA WASN’T ONLY RPONSIBLE FOR THE VTIGATN’S FAILGS. ACRDG TO CARONNA, ROGERS HIMSELF WAS MOTIVATED BY ANTI-GAY SENTIMENTS, EVEN THOUGH 'S WILY BELIEVED THAT ROGERS WAS GAY.“THERE'S NO QUTN THAT THIS WAS THAT THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ANTI-GAY VLENCE,” CARONNA SAYS. “RICHARD GREW UP HEARG ALL OF THOSE THGS THAT THE GAY BASHER EPISO ONE HEARD, THAT ANA BRYANT HEARD, THAT WE'VE ALL HEARD GROWG UP AMERI.”IT’S A TRICKY THG, 2023, TO TELL A STORY ABOUT A REPORTEDLY GAY SERIAL KILLER WHOUT ADVERTENTLY VALIDATG THE CREASGLY HOMOPHOBIC FAR RIGHT. THAT CHALLENGE ISN’T LOST ON CARONNA, WHO SAYS THE PORTN OF THE SERI THAT DISCS ROGERS’S SEXUAL ORIENTATN “WENT THROUGH PROBABLY MORE ERATNS AND ANY OTHER SECTN THE SHOW,” AS THEY KNEW HOW MIGHT BE RECEIVED BY THOSE LOOKG FOR EVEN MORE REASONS TO MARGALIZE THE LGBTQ+ MUNY. “I KNEW THIS WAS A VERY DIFFICULT STORY TO TELL, WHICH IS WHY I WAS AAID TO TELL THE FIRST PLACE,” HE SAYS.THOSE FEARS WENT AWAY, CARONNA SAYS, AS HE STARTED REARCHG THE SE, AND VISUALIZG HOW A SERI MIGHT LOOK. “YEAH, IS MSY. BUT STILL, I THK 'S WAY MORE IMPORTANT TO TELL THIS STORY THAN TO BE AAID THAT WE'RE GONNA FFLE SOME FEATHERS.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMERA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDTHE 25 BT SHOWS ON NETFLIX TO WATCH RIGHT NOWFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)EVE BATEY

's Channel 4, he's seen feedback om younger gay men — livg today's world of advanced preventative HIV medice and relative eedom — who are outraged "that such a world ever existed.

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

Moreover, the ways which society both hypersexualiz LGBTQ people and stigmatiz our relatnships n lead to timate partner vlence that stems om ternalized homophobia and shame.

44 percent of lbians and 61 percent of bisexual women experience rape, physil vlence, or stalkg by an timate partner, pared to 35 percent of straight women26 percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men experience rape, physil vlence, or stalkg by an timate partner, pared to 29 percent of straight men46 percent of bisexual women have been raped, pared to 17 percent of straight women and 13 percent of lbians22 percent of bisexual women have been raped by an timate partner, pared to 9 percent of straight women40 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men have experienced sexual vlence other than rape, pared to 21 percent of straight men. This 7th-gra photo of Jse Dirkhisg is om the Lln (Middle) School yearbook 1999 — the same year he was killed after beg sadistilly raped and sodomized by homosexuals (and lovers) David Don Carpenter and Joshua Mave Brown.

Dirkhisg’s murr was largely ignored by cultural el — while homosexual Matthew Shepard’s murr was given extraordary, worldwi media verage (based on a false “hate crime” narrative).

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS COULD REMOVE IT NEXT YEAR

Update 9/26/2014: Fifteen years ago today, a 13-year-old Arkansas boy, Jse Dirkhisg, was sodomized to ath by two olr homosexual men who ed him as their “sex toy. Jse would be 28 and the prime of his life today were that life not robbed om him by sadistic “gay” predators who ed him for their viant sexual pleasur. The followg article by my good iend and AFTAH wrer Allyson Smh is adapted om her five 2002 article on the horrific and gome murr of a 13-year-old Arkansas boy, Jse Dirkhisg — who died om asphyfixiatn and dggg after beg btally and sadistilly sodomized by a homosexual man, unr the twisted guidance of another (his much olr “gay” lover).

The two homosexual lovers who sexually tortured the boy — Joshua Brown and his olr partner, Davis Don Carpenter — were both iends of Jse’s mother, who reportedly was happy to let her son hang out wh the men and even stay over the weekend their apartment a town 32 away. “Evince om the Jse Dirkhisg se suggt the Arkansas boy’s killers were followg bondage and sodomy ruals of the type laid out sr of books and magaz fuelg the growg “leather” subculture — popular among “gay” men — that eroticiz pa, domance and huiatn. As fate would have , only a year and a few days separate the anniversary dat of the rape-murr of Dirkhisg (September 26, 1999) om that of the asslt on murred Wyomg homosexual llege stunt Matthew Shepard (October 6, 1998).

But only one murr — wh s ntrived, nvenient and polilly-rrect “hate crime” story-le — beme eful to pro-homosexual “progrsiv” and the liberal media, while the other was largely ignored. Shepard’s 1998 murr (nmned by this wrer and many pro-fay groups and lears at the time) drew worldwi verage as a supposed “anti-gay hate crime.

'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY

” It is still monly memorated as such — spe the publitn of homosexual thor Stephen Jimenez’s new book, The Book of Matt: Hidn Tths About the Murr of Matthew Shepard, which shatters that the longstandg media and LGBT activist narrative that Shepard was targeted and murred “bee he was gay.

(In his murr trial, McKney attempted a “gay panic” fense, claimg that he sought to punish the supposed stranger Shepard bee the latter me on to him at a bar.

Seemgly obliv to the well-rearched revelatns Jimenez’s book, the Washgton Natnal Cathedral, the natn’s pal, held an anniversary event last weekend remembrance of the Shepard murr the ntext of “honorg gay youth. Conservativ have attempted wh ltle succs over the years to get the “mastream” media to acknowledge that the pedophilic, sadistic-sex killg of young Dirkhisg by two homosexual lovers served as much verage as the btal beatg of Shepard. Shepard’s murr touch on a host of plex and timely issu: tolerance, society’s attus toward gays and the prsure to nform, the e of vlence as a means of nontg one’s mons.