Iran: Gay Man Behead by Fay Alleged Homophobic 'Honor Killg'

Contents:

• MATTHEW SHEPARD: THE LEGACY OF A GAY LLEGE STUNT 20 YEARS AFTER HIS BTAL MURR
• FLORIDA MAN KILLED OPENLY GAY TEEN HE HAD BEEN CHATTG TO ONLE BEE HE FEARED BEG OUTED, POLICE SAY
• MAN WHO KILLED GAY SECRET ADMIRER OM ‘JENNY JON SHOW’ GETS PAROLE
• MATTHEW SHEPARD FALLY LAID TO RT 20 YEARS AFTER HE WAS KILLED FOR BEG GAY
• GAY MAN KILLED, ANOTHER CRILLY JURED GRDR MEETUP
• GAY MAN TORTURED AND KILLED CANCúN AFTER REVEALG HE WAS LIVG WH HIV
• THE TTH BEHD AMERI’S MOST FAMO GAY-HATE MURR
• SERIAL KILLER WHO PREYED ON GAY MEN, WAS DUBBED 'I-95 KILLER' IS EXECUTED FLORIDA
• GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• ALIREZA FAZELI MONFARED WANTED TO LIVE AS A EE GAY MAN THE WT. HIS FAY IRAN BEHEAD HIM DAYS BEFORE HIS DREAM ME TE, SAY ACTIVISTS.

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

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.

Members of the Wtboro Baptist Church protted the funeral, picketg wh anti-gay Fred Phelps and his parishners traveled om Kansas to Laramie for the funeral and trial, prottg wh brightly lored signs and spewg hatred. McKney went to trial, and fense attorneys argued his vlent actns were "gay panic" -- a reactn to Shepard makg a sexual advance. McKney has cled to speak to ABC News while Henrson did not immediately rpond to a requt for WashgtonShepard's murr shed a light on the spe of feral hate crime laws, which at the time did not clu sexual orientatn or genr gay activists monstrate the streets of North Hollywood to prott agast the ath of Wyomg Universy stunt Mathew Shepard, Oct.

FLORIDA MAN KILLED OPENLY GAY TEEN HE HAD BEEN CHATTG TO ONLE BEE HE FEARED BEG OUTED, POLICE SAY

"Beyond the feral hate crime law, the years sce Matthew Shepard's ath, among the most substantive legislative ws for the LGBTQ muny were the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell 2010, so gay ary members n serve openly whout fear of beg dismissed, and the legalizatn of same-sex marriage across the untry 2015. Michael Loccisano/Getty Imag, FILEFor Judy Shepard, one of the bt signs of cultural progrs is seeg Gay Straight Alliance groups rampg up schools.

MAN WHO KILLED GAY SECRET ADMIRER OM ‘JENNY JON SHOW’ GETS PAROLE

"WARNING: This feature ntas language that some rears may fd nights earlier, on Tuday 6 October 1998, Matthew Shepard walked alone to a dive bar ptn, Judy and Dennis Shepard at the Matthew Shepard Foundatn Denver last weekThe openly gay Universy of Wyomg hman had jt met up wh iends to plan LGBT awarens week on the town's he uldn't persua them to jo him for a beer the Firi Lounge, the 21-year-old somehow end up chattg to two roofg workers, Rsell Henrson and Aaron McKney, both the same age as pair saw an easy mark the 5ft 2, slightly built County Sheriff Dave O'Malley, who was lead vtigator the se, says: "McKney's own statement said he and Rsell went to the bathroom at the Firi bar and they planned to act like they were gay to try to ga Matthew's nfince. It is a momento honour not even acrd to another proment gay martyr, Harvey Milk, the San Francis polician assassated the Denver cy centre offic of the LGBT rights foundatn named after her son, Judy Shepard, 66, is fightg back predicted Friday's ceremony would probably be more emotnal for her than the funeral bee she felt so "numb" immediately after her son's source, Getty ImagImage ptn, A vigil for Shepard New York Cy 1998The origal service, amid snow flurri the fay's hometown of Casper, Wyomg, on 16 October 1998, was picketed by an anti-gay preacher om Kansas. Reverend Fred Phelps of Wtboro Baptist Church and his flock, who clud children, held plards dbed wh homophobic slurs and shouted to mourners that the ad stunt was burng Shepard, 69, remembers law enforcement makg him wear a bullet-proof vt to step outsi the Epispal church, which had been sured by bomb-sniffg dogs.

Shepard's murr stoked the perceptn of Cowboy Country and flyover stat general as a danger zone for gay at his office the cy of Cheyenne, McKney trial lawyer Dn Ctis matas was a robbery gone bad, even while he accepts sexual orientatn was a factor. "However, McKney's own gay-bashg rhetoric damns him the ey of source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Thoands gathered outsi the US Capol for a vigil after Shepard's athDurg a police nfsn, he said he began to attack Shepard bee the stunt had put his hand on his leg durg the r ri. " Yet another statement to police, he said Shepard simply looked like he was about to grope the jailhoe after his arrt, McKney reportedly wrote to another mate's wife: "Beg a verry [sic] dnk homofobick [sic] I flipped out and began to pistol whip the fag wh my gun, ready at hand.

"At trial, McKney's lawyers argued that Shepard had ma their client fly to a rage by touchg his the judge dismissed this "gay panic" a legal strategy - where crimal fendants s of vlent asslt argue they were provoked by an unwanted same-sex sexual advance - is still admissible all but three US stat, acrdg to the Williams Instute at UCLA School of Law. Sheriff O'Malley rejects any attempt to downplay the anti-gay element the source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Rev Fred Phelps and his flock prott Laramie 1999"We have never disunted ever that the ial motivatn was robbery, " he says. The moment was re-enacted as a climactic scene 2002 HBO movie The Laramie the angel actn, was replited two years ago Orlando, Florida, when Wtboro Baptist Church tried to dispt the funerals of gay people killed a mass shootg at the Pulse nightclub.

MATTHEW SHEPARD FALLY LAID TO RT 20 YEARS AFTER HE WAS KILLED FOR BEG GAY

It also says LGBT Amerins n be fired for their sexualy 29 feels gay rights "took a U-turn" unr the Tmp admistratn. "All of them are that circle of faiary of extreme right-wg relig attus, " she says of the print's bet, " particular to the gay muny, to anybody who's not straight whe Christian. However, Sheriff O'Malley mak clear that theory is not supported by the source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Judy Shepard (L) at the Whe Hoe 2009 for the passage of the anti-hate crim bill named after her son and a black man killed by whe supremacistsThe Old Buckhorn Bar & Parlor Laramie has a mirror pocked by a bullet hole, and walls that bristle wh mounted antelope, buffalo and patron, Jt Bmmet - who proudly scrib himself as "third class whe trash" - says US progrs on gay rights sce Shepard's ath is to be mend.

" Back at the end of the last lennium, many Wyomg apparently thought gay people were as rare on the high plas as jackalop, the state's mythil antlered ptn, (L-R) Universy of Wyomg LGBT stunts Js Fahlsg, Carlos Gonzal and Rihanna KelverShepard's murr - together wh the 2005 gay wboy love story Brokeback Mounta - helped dispel that Connolly, a Universy of Wyomg genr and women's studi lecturer, explas. "I thk 20 years ago some people Wyomg hontly didn't believe they had met anyone who was gay or lbian, " she says. She reunts facg a "horrific" backlash last year om angry voters when she troduced a gay rights source, Getty ImagImage ptn, A dirt road near where Shepard was left to dieA Democrat, she is one of a handful of female lawmakers Wyomg.

"I would be the first person that would tell a joke about gay Amerins and, uh, the word fag rolled off my tongue very easily. "And when I got volved the vtigatn, I was forced to teract wh Matthew's iends, many of which were gay and lbian. Colorado Sprgs, the state’s send-most populo cy wh jt unr 500, 000 rints, is home to a number of ary bas and is the headquarters for Foc on the Fay, the nservative Christian group that says homosexualy and same-sex marriage are ss.

GAY MAN KILLED, ANOTHER CRILLY JURED GRDR MEETUP

He and his bs partner toured other succsful LGBTQ spac and noted a mon theme: “They were gay as hell, ” Grzecka told the outlet. Jared Polis, a Democrat and the natn’s first openly gay ernor, issued a statement Sunday llg the attack “horrific, sickeng and vastatg” and offered state rourc to lol law enforcement.

A Florida teenager fatally shot another teenager he had been speakg to onle bee he feared beg out as gay, acrdg to Daytona Beach Webb, 19, was arrted Wednday nnectn wh the ath of Telan Mann, also 19, police said, per NBC Daytona Beach Police Department said an vtigatn began after officers found Mann wh multiple gun wounds and " a pool of blood" on a siwalk the early hours of the morng on June 23.

GAY MAN TORTURED AND KILLED CANCúN AFTER REVEALG HE WAS LIVG WH HIV

Mann was openly gay, acrdg to police, per the first meetg turned out to be when Webb was acced of shootg Mann, police add. "There was some ncern that Telan eher had or was gog to post somethg on social media kd of outg the spect, " said Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young at a news nference, on Wednday, NBC News believed Mann had been spreadg mors about him beg gay, police said on is beg held whout bond at a unty jail. Police Philalphia arrted a man they say killed his gay lover and left the burng rpse a lol park an effort to hi the pair's sexual Pratt, 20, was taken to ctody Wednday, June 15, and charged wh the murr of Naasir Johnson, 20, whose charred remas were disvered jt after noon on Febary 20 on a bbltone trail Fairmount believe the two men were romantilly volved and Pratt, known lolly as 29th Street Rich, killed the openly gay Naasir after the man threatened to go public wh their relatnship, acrdg to Metro Weekly.

Solis wasn’t there but said people who were told her a man began harassg one of Smh’s iends and tossed homophobic slurs, acrdg to The Oregonian. Matthew Shepard was fally laid to rt Friday at the Washgton Natnal Cathedral 20 years after beg killed by two men bee he was gay. A Detro man has been charged an attempted robbery and shootg that left one gay man ad and another crilly jured.

"The allegatns are that social media ntacts were ed to target, ntact, rob, fatally shoot one gay man and serly wound another gay man, " Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said a statement. In May of this year, two Dallas men were charged by a feral grand jury wh "nspiracy to m hate crim, kidnappg and rjackg" after lurg ne gay men through the popular app to an apartment plex and subsequently kidnappg, sexually assltg and robbg them.

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

"The dictment further alleg that Jenks and Henry ed bodily jury to four victims bee of their actual and perceived sexual orientatn, " a Jtice Department statement year, followg a siar cint, thori charged four men wh feral hate crim for a seri of North Texas asslts and robberi after they posed as gay and manipulated victims to divulgg their home addrs via the app 2017.

SERIAL KILLER WHO PREYED ON GAY MEN, WAS DUBBED 'I-95 KILLER' IS EXECUTED FLORIDA

The men, whose ag ranged om 19 to 21, were sentenced to between 10 and 20 years prison for breakg to victims' hom, tyg them up wh tape, physilly assltg them and yellg gay slurs at them.

GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

Perhaps one of the most well-known gay datg-app predators is Stephen Port — a man dubbed "The Grdr Killer" — who was sentenced to life prison 2016 for dggg, rapg and killg four men he met through the app. "This is why we see a rise hate crim durg Pri Month and creas of hate crim 'gay-iendly' neighborhoods, " Coston said.

“There are people impersonatg romantic partners and iends untri where beg gay is illegal, then threateng to out the er, ” said Ian Holloway, an assistant profsor of social welfare the Universy of California, Los Angel, Lk School of Public 2018, there were wispread reports of Egyptian thori and rints who ed gay datg apps to entrap and persecute gay men. A young gay man was tortured, burned, and killed Mexi after he revealed at a party that he was livg wh HIV, activists say.

READ NEXTBeyoncé Shows Trans Support Durg Her ConcertEsquire Nam Tra One of Ameri’s Bt Gay Bars for Send YearTrans Woman Asslted and Stripped Outsi California BarTrixie Mattel’s ‘Trixie Motel’ is Gettg a Send Season. 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.

ALIREZA FAZELI MONFARED WANTED TO LIVE AS A EE GAY MAN THE WT. HIS FAY IRAN BEHEAD HIM DAYS BEFORE HIS DREAM ME TE, SAY ACTIVISTS.

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.

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. 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?