Universy of Wyomg stunt Matthew Shepard, who was openly gay, was btally beaten October 1998 by Aaron McKney and Rsell Henrson. Shepard died several days later. The cint received ternatnal media verage and ntu to spark ntroversy about hate crim. Shepard’s parents, Judy and Dennis, tablished a foundatn Matthew’s name, which ntu s pro-LGBT tnal work today.
Contents:
- THE TTH BEHD AMERI’S MOST FAMO GAY-HATE MURR
- GAYT PLAC IN WYOMG FOR 2020
- WHAT IT'S LIKE TO GROW UP GAY IN WYOMG AFTER MATTHEW SHEPARD'S MURR
- IT’S STILL DANGERO TO BE GAY WYOMG
- IN WYOMG, SCENE OF FAMO GAY HATE CRIME AN UNLIKELY LGBTQ HAVEN
- ‘LARAMIE PROJECT’ RELLS FATAL ATTACK ON GAY MAN
- GAY DATG WYOMG
THE TTH BEHD AMERI’S MOST FAMO GAY-HATE MURR
If he hadn't been killed 1998, Matthew Shepard would have turned 41 today. As a gay stunt Wyomg, I grew up aaid of the homophobia that ntributed to his ath — but queer people here are workg toward a new future. * laramie gay *
Not even the third-season addn of Sprg Bygton as sgle mother Daisy Cooper uld tract om their gay subtext. They were unual among 1950s wboys for their ocsnal shirtls and unwear shots on-screen (as opposed to jt the mcle magaz), th enhancg the homoerotic gaze.
John Smh was one of talent agent Henry Willson's stable of gay and gay-iendly 1950s hunks (others clud Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter), so he may have been gay or bisexual, though of urse he never ma any public statements. Eighteen hours later, a cyclist found the gay stunt tied to a fence, beaten, burned, and atose wh a actured skull.
The horrific killg of Matthew Shepard 1998 is wily seen as one of the worst anti-gay hate crim Amerin history. They pistol whipped him wh a gun then tied him to a fence eezg ndns and set fire to him before leavg him to attack beme a e célèbre: precipated a natnal backlash agast hyper-macho culture and tac tolerance of homophobia.
GAYT PLAC IN WYOMG FOR 2020
Anti-gay vlence Wyomg is real, and serv a real rponse." name="scriptn * laramie gay *
As a rult of Matthew’s ath, many good thgs have happened for the gay muny. Policians and celebri pledged support and fundg to bat anti-gay hate crime.
The Shepard fay have bee mpaigners for gay rights. Jimenez has been acced of beg a revisnist, a cricism ually rerved for extreme rightwg iologu that ny the Holot, and labelled a homophobe. When he started he was nvced that Matthew died at the hands of homophob, but he soon disvered that Matthew’s tragedy began long before the night he was killed.
“This do not make the perfect poster boy for the gay-rights movement, ” says Jimenez. But this is not the Matthew Shepard who beme a celebrated figure for the gay-rights movement Ameri.
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO GROW UP GAY IN WYOMG AFTER MATTHEW SHEPARD'S MURR
* laramie gay *
But the town also has a number of mobile home parks at the edg, some more ndown than the eveng of 6 October 1998, Matthew went to the Firi bar, a lol hangout that was purportedly gay-iendly. It was fairly well known the Laramie muny that McKney wouldn’t be one that was strikg out of a sense of homophobia.
They ntacted the Associated Prs and a number of lol gay anisatns that same day. Stephen Jimenez is an award-wng journalist and gay man. So why has he put such time and effort to attemptg to prove that Matthew’s murr was not a hate crime, pecially as has seen him acced of beg an ally to the rightwg Christian fundamentalists who ny the realy of homophobia?
IT’S STILL DANGERO TO BE GAY WYOMG
Jul. 20—Convergence Theatre Company is currently seekg performers for a timely productn of the award-wng play "The Laramie Project," directed by s artistic director Matthew DeMert. "The Laramie Project" was wrten by Moisés Kfman and member of the Tectonic Theatre Project rponse to the 1998 murr of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man Laramie, Wyomg, and a stunt at the ... * laramie gay *
“The view was that homophobic rednecks walked to a bar and saw an obvly gay man wh money and targeted him and beat him to ath for that reason, ” says Jimenez.
That plit the origal story of two strangers walkg to a bar and targetg Matthew – someone they did not know – bee he was gay. “Rsell Henrson ed to hang around wh gay people, ” Johnson told me.
“Laramie had a big gay populatn. I knew what people’s sexual orientatn was bee my bt iend’s son was gay. ”The police did not vtigate the killers’ relatnship to the gay days after the attack, on 12 October, Matthew died.
IN WYOMG, SCENE OF FAMO GAY HATE CRIME AN UNLIKELY LGBTQ HAVEN
Laramie (Uned Stat) (AFP) - Nearly 25 years ago, the btal murr of Matthew Shepard -- a gay llege stunt Wyomg who was beaten, tied to a fence * laramie gay *
”Dark si: anti-gay prottors at Matthew’s funeral. “The se was ed to highlight the fact of vlence agast gay people, ” Wypijewski told me. ”Wypijewski thks the reason some sectns of the gay muny are so angry about the Jimenez book is obv: “Jimenez has taken away their angel, and there is the reflexive sense that as a muny s sufferg was beg at last regnised.
”John Stoltenberg is a gay-rights activist who lived wh the femist wrer Andrea Dwork until her ath 2005. “Keepg Matthew as the poster boy of gay-hate crime and ignorg the full tragedy of his story has been the agenda of many gay-movement lears, ” he says. Henson told me he believ that The Book of Matt is “nothg more than the tth” and that he was “never certa” that the murr was an anti-gay hate crime.
‘LARAMIE PROJECT’ RELLS FATAL ATTACK ON GAY MAN
The 1999 play The Laramie Project explor the te story surroundg the ath of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was beaten and left to die Laramie, Wyo., 1998. The se, which beme a landmark symbol for hate crim, still elics varied reactns — which is why on Oct. 12, hundreds of other theaters around the world will perform The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, an Epilogue. * laramie gay *
One that ncerns the oft-repeated notn that Wyomg is full of gay-hatg bigots. The folks Laramie jt had to take , bee a fellow who happened to be gay was murred their town.
”The Matthew Shepard Foundatn stands firm about the murr beg fuelled by homophobic hatred. Photograph: Evan Agosti/Getty Imag Photograph: Evan Agosti/Getty ImagOn 16 September the Casper Star Tribune, the lol paper Matthew’s home town, published an edorial claimg that an award Jimenez had recently received for his book “serv rejectn”, sayg: “From the begng there have been those who want to ignore the sadistic homophobic motiv of Shepard’s attackers and stead sist the matter was a dg al gone bad. Matthew Shepard’s murr will always be, for some, a symbol of the hatred many lbians and gay men face the US and beyond.
GAY DATG WYOMG
Disver Gay datg near you and Wyomg. Fd a lol nnectn today! * laramie gay *
But the mystery remas – not so much why Matthew died, but why the gay muny, after almost five s of mpaigng for equal rights, reli so fundamentally on the image of the perfect martyr to reprent the e. This is our sixth time rankg the gayt plac left for slishow.
Article ntu the Supreme Court led favor of same-sex marriag, Ameri generally, and the gay muny specifilly, celebrated.
Same-sex marriag, and the gay and lbian movement is more mastream than the natnal discsn has been brought to the foreont, at the state level, nversatns you know that an timated 0. 06% of Wyomg rints is gay? That ranks as the number 50 most gay state the natn.