The tth behd Ameri’s most famo gay-hate murr | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY YOUTH'S DEATH SHAK COLO. CY
• MATTHEW SHEPARD, MURRED GAY STUNT, FALLY LAID TO RT
• SOME OF HOLLYWOOD’S MOST NOTOR GAY MURRS REMA UNSOLVED / QUEERTY
• STT JOHNSON: MAN NFS TO 1988 GAY HATE MURR
• THE TTH BEHD AMERI’S MOST FAMO GAY-HATE MURR
• JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY
• MATTHEW SHEPARD: THE LEGACY OF A GAY LLEGE STUNT 20 YEARS AFTER HIS BTAL MURR
• MATTHEW SHEPARD, VICTIM OF ANTI-GAY HATE CRIME, DI

GAY YOUTH'S DEATH SHAK COLO. CY

6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old Universy of Wyomg stunt who was openly gay, went alone to the Firi Lounge Laramie after a meetg of the mp LGBT (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr) stunt group and a quick stop at the Village Inn.

Shortly after midnight, Shepard left the bar wh McKney and Henrson; police and prosecutors would assert that the two men lured Shepard, perhaps unr the pretense of themselv beg gay, but fact wh the tent of robbg him. Ed Andriki, The Associated their 36 hours of preparatn and travel, the story of the attack spread om lol to regnal to natnal media, unrsred by the reports om several of Shepard’s iends that he was gay and their fears that he had fallen victim to an anti-gay hate crime. After his effort to mount a “gay panic fense” was led out by Judge Barton Voight, McKney’s unsel, prosecutor Cal Recha and the Shepards agreed to a siar plea barga for nsecutive life sentenc and McKney’s agreement not to speak to the media about the se, a provisn he would repeatedly vlate later years.

Wyomg legislators 1999 nsired a state-level hate crime bill that extend to anti-gay and -lbian crimal motivatns, but the measure failed the state Hoe on a 30-30 tie on two nsecutive days and has not sce been serly bated. They pare the killg to the 1998 murr of gay llege stunt Matthew Shepard Wyomg, and say illtrat the need for an expand hate crim law Colorado that would ver bias-motivated attacks on gays. Wagner, who spent a month Cortez fortg Martez's mother, echoed other activists who pla officials have played down anti-gay bias as a motive bee they fear the adverse publicy that befell Laramie, Wyo., after Shepard's murr.

MATTHEW SHEPARD, MURRED GAY STUNT, FALLY LAID TO RT

"I thk there was some fear that this was gog to turn to a Matthew Shepard-type cint, and that n't help any muny, " said Larson, who last wter beme the first Republin lawmaker to -sponsor the hate crim bill favored by gay rights activists. Acrdg to the affidav, Clt Sanchez, a iend of Murphy's, told thori that he and Murphy were cisg a r Cortez on the night of June 16 and gave a ri to a young gay man, whom tectiv allege was Martez. "The police are beg very ut, and I gus I kd of unrstand why they'd want to be nservative, " said John Peters-Campbell, a Cortez rint and board member of the regnal Gay and Lbian Alliance for Diversy.

SOME OF HOLLYWOOD’S MOST NOTOR GAY MURRS REMA UNSOLVED / QUEERTY

On Friday, the llege stunt who beme a symbol of adly vlence agast gay people followg his 1998 murr, will get a fal rtg place at Washgton Natnal Cathedral — ee om bigots seekg to secrate his memory. Shepard’s parents are grateful his ath has paved the way for protectns wh the LGBTQ muny and to know his ternment at the thedral reprents some acceptance of gay people wh the church.

STT JOHNSON: MAN NFS TO 1988 GAY HATE MURR

Image source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt me to Atralia 1986 om the USA man has fally nfsed to the murr of Cambridge Universy graduate Stt Johnson after more than 30 27-year-old's naked body was found at the bottom of North Head cliffs, a well known gay cisg ground Sydney, Atralia, back the time, his ath was led as suici - somethg his fay never Whe was arrted and charged 2020, and this week unexpectedly plead guilty at a pre-trial lawyers attempted to have the admissn whdrawn, argug that Whe, 50, was not mentally on Thursday, a Supreme Court judge rejected that motn, wrg the plea was entered " a loud clear voice, and an emphatic and termed manner". "It was nceivable to me that Stt went somewhere and jumped off a cliff, " his brother Steve told Rad 1 Newsbeat 2018, when he was sperately mpaigng for the tth behd his brother's 2005 Steve says he beme aware of quts to siar aths of gay men at Bondi Beach Sydney - the moment when he says he "woke up" to what might have happened to his younger lol police showed ltle tert re-openg Stt's se, Steve hired an vtigator who unvered urt rerds of gangs who roamed northern beach Sydney at the time mtg asslts agast gay source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Steve (left) has spent more than 30 years tryg to fd out the tth about his brother Stt's athAll the years later, Steve told ABC that he was grateful a trial uld be avoid. On both ocsns police found nothg to nvce them Stt hadn't taken his own November 2017 a roner led Stt had been murred by a gay hate gang, which led to a new was timated up to 80 gay men were murred by homophobic gangs and around Sydney the late eighti - wh many phed off third qut created a lot of publicy, wh Atralian police eventually renewg their vtigatn and offerg a $1m reward for rmatn, wh Steve reportedly offerg an addnal $ rerds show "a strike force" was assembled, and followg rmatn received om a member of the public, foc turned to Stt was arrted and charged wh murr on 12 May source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Steve says he spent summers wh his brother travellg, readg philosophy and dog maths togetherNew South Wal Police Commissner Mick Fuller prevly said Stt's ath was one of the most challengg s he's ever worked on - mostly bee no-one was willg to talk about his murr.

THE TTH BEHD AMERI’S MOST FAMO GAY-HATE MURR

Stt moved om the US to Atralia 1986 bee, at the time, domtic partnership laws (siar to civil partnership) were some of the most clive the homosexualy had only been crimalised New South Wal 1984 and Steve believ police did not take hate crim serly at the time of his brother's source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt moved to Atralia 1986 to be wh a man he met at Cambridge Universy"The gay muny were send class cizens. The Sixth Commandment9pm, BBC OneTimothy Spall stars this dark drama by Sarah Phelps based on the horrifyg real-life se of Peter Farquhar, an elrly, eply closeted gay amic who was sced, exploed and eventually murred by too-good-to-be-te stunt Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke).

Image source, Tham Valley PoliceImage ptn, Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Mart were both sgle and vulnerableBoth Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Mart were relig, sgle and whout Farquhar retired as Stowe School's head of English 2004 and was ved to be a gut lecturer at the Universy of Buckgham, where he met stunt the urt se, the jury heard how Mr Farquhar had a wi circle of iends but he was lonely and, as a gay man, he stggled wh his sexualy, regardg as patible wh his Anglin fah.

JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY

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. 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. 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?

”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. 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. 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.

“There I was, takg down the rabow flag, a perfect target, ” he relled, his shoulrs wrapped wh the same gay pri flag to ward off the chill of an overzealo air gay men and women, pecially young on like 21-year-old Alvarez, Shepard’s much publicized ath was a btal remr of their vulnerabily. Gays may be more assiated and accepted than they’ve ever been Amerin society, but they rema leadg targets of hate Los Angel County, anti-gay cints have nsistently ranked as the send most mon type of bias crime reported, after racially motivated of the attacks have been jt as vic as the one on Shepard, who was pistol-whipped and tied to a fence post, allegedly by two young men he had met a was Dennis Phung, beaten to ath 1996 his Hollywood apartment by two transient teenagers he had hired as photo mols. They ed a claw hammer and--to make sure there was no doubt about their motive--left a mask on his head wh the words “gay bash” scrawled across was Lawrence Ford, bludgeoned and slashed ear to ear 1996 his Mara l Rey home by a man he had met through a personal ad the Los Angel was Leeanne Keh of Downey, shot the back and paralyzed by her father--law two years ago bee she was thkg of leavg her marriage to embark on a lbian relatnship.

MATTHEW SHEPARD: THE LEGACY OF A GAY LLEGE STUNT 20 YEARS AFTER HIS BTAL MURR

”The unty Human Relatns Commissn, which tracks hate crim reported by law enforcement and muny agenci, rerd 220 anti-gay cints Threat of VlenceThose faiar wh hate crim say gay-bashgs are equently more vlent than other bias-motivated offens. “The most vlent type I see [volv] gay and lbian victims, and Ain Amerin victims” targeted by whe supremacists, Arranaga members of the mp gay and lbian group, Alvarez and his iends are certaly no strangers to anti-gay group has gotten hate mail and harassg phone lls. ”Hate crime statistics nsistently dite that gay men are victims more often than is partly bee men are more apt than women to ngregate public, gay-intified areas--where they n be easily targeted.

And is partly bee gay men are more willg to go to police than lbians, acrdg to studi of the same time, Gregory Herek, a UC Davis rearch psychologist who has studied gay bashg, says is sometim difficult to terme whether women are beg targeted bee of their genr or their sexual variabl unrsre the pfalls of hate crime statistics, which pend not only on the willgns of the victim to report an cint but also the willgns of thori to classify a crime as fn of a hate crime n also vary.

For example, the Natnal Coaln of Anti-Vlence Programs, which llects data om agenci such as the Los Angel Gay & Lbian Center, clus verbal harassment s figur of gay unls is acpanied by a threat of vlence that the speaker has the abily to rry out, utterg an anti-gay slur is not a crime California, which is one of 21 stat that clu sexual orientatn their hate crim laws. Christopher Bock, a 50-year-old Los Angel wrer, remembers a time when the average gay-bashg victim would never have thought to pla, bee to do so would have intified him or her as the same time, the growg openns and visibily of gays and lbians mak them not only ls likely to stay silent about an attack, also n make them a more vg target. ”Frankl says preventn efforts such as crackg down on anti-gay harassment schools would have a greater rearch psychologist Ed Dunbar agre that anti-gay attus are mon, but his study of Los Angel County hate crim has led him to different nclns about the arrted anti-gay hate crim have often planned the attack and have crimal rerds, found Dunbar, who favors hate crime laws as a societal statement that such behavr is particularly egreg.

MATTHEW SHEPARD, VICTIM OF ANTI-GAY HATE CRIME, DI

Twenty years ago, Matthew Shepard was a "smart, funny" 21-year-old, no different than any other young man that was an "ordary kid who wanted to make the world a better place, " his parents October 1998, that all changed, when the openly gay llege stunt was abducted, beaten and tied to a fence life end a few days later, and wh me a wispread awarens of the dangers that members of the LGBTQ muny face every day. The homophobic btal killg also served as a talyst for progrs Ameri's laws and the two s that have passed, however, remas batable how far the untry has e sce the shock of that crime. (MORE: 'Gay panic' fense still ed vlence s may be banned by new feral bill)McKney h Shepard about 20 tim the head and face wh the end of the pistol, Marsn said, before the two stole Shepard's sho, got their tck and drove back to town.

Agast the gay muny until after he grew up to bee very terted ternatnal human rights, particularly women's rights the Middle East and Asia, and he studied polil science, said Marsn.