Matthew Shepard Is the World's Most Famo Gay Hate Crime Victim. But Was He Really Killed for Beg Gay? - The Stranger

Contents:

• THE TTH BEHD AMERI’S MOST FAMO GAY-HATE MURR
• MATTHEW SHEPARD: THE LEGACY OF A GAY LLEGE STUNT 20 YEARS AFTER HIS BTAL MURR
• MATTHEW SHEPARD FALLY LAID TO RT 20 YEARS AFTER HE WAS KILLED FOR BEG GAY
• MATTHEW SHEPARD: ASH OF MAN KILLED ANTI-GAY ATTACK TO BE TERRED AT NATNAL CATHEDRAL
• FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER MATTHEW SHEPARD'S MURR, WYOMG REMAS ANTI-GAY
• MATTHEW SHEPARD, VICTIM OF ANTI-GAY HATE CRIME, DI
• MATTHEW SHEPARD IS THE WORLD'S MOST FAMO GAY HATE CRIME VICTIM. BUT WAS HE REALLY KILLED FOR BEG GAY?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

(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.

MATTHEW SHEPARD: ASH OF MAN KILLED ANTI-GAY ATTACK TO BE TERRED AT NATNAL CATHEDRAL

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 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. "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.

"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.

FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER MATTHEW SHEPARD'S MURR, WYOMG REMAS ANTI-GAY

"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.

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

"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. "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.

MATTHEW SHEPARD IS THE WORLD'S MOST FAMO GAY HATE CRIME VICTIM. BUT WAS HE REALLY KILLED FOR BEG GAY?

" 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.

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. ET Matthew Shepard, the young gay man btally killed on a chilly night Wyomg 20 years ago this month, was fally laid to rt at Washgton Natnal Cathedral on Friday. In the years sce, the circumstanc surroundg the se have been disputed, but Shepard's murr has neverthels e to be seen as a classic hate crime, highlightg anti-gay bigotry.

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. Wyomg remas "eply fensive" about the ia that Shepard was targeted bee he was gay, Burlgame as the Equaly State, Wyomg got s nickname for beg the first to let women vote.

Today has fewer women s Legislature than any other state and remas hant to adopt polici to unter anti-gay bias and is among jt five stat — along wh Arkansas, Geia, Indiana and South Carola — that have not passed laws foced on crim motivated by the victim's inty, such as their sexual orientatn. "As tragic as is, and as unfortunate as is, and as hard as is for Matthew's fay, and for my fay, for all of , to go through, opened up all of to be better people and really thk about who we are, " Henrson said of Shepard's ath a prison terview Tuday wh The Associated, he sisted, neher he nor McKney was motivated by anti-gay hatred when they offered Shepard a ri home om a bar.

I'm so, so ashamed I was ever part of this, " Henrson gay rights activist argu that Henrson has paid his du for what he scribed as beg " the wrong place at the wrong time. 357 Magnum pistol, cludg three fal, and fatal, skull-cshg an tercepted jail letter McKney wrote to Shepard's other attacker, Rsell Henrson, while the two were awag trial, McKney ed a gay slur to scribe Shepard.

"Why there are discrepanciWhether due to nonexistent laws or nsistent reportg, lol law enforcement agenci rarely report LGBTQ aths to feral thori that track hate crim — even if the killer ed slurs, rpond vlently to rmatn that a person was gay or transgenr, or showed signs of overkill.

Many of the aths noted earlier reports didn’t clu nam, but we were able to gather nam for most victims by piecg together intifyg rmatn om other reports, cludg media reportg advocy studi and police, we searched through several reports and onle listgs of LGBTQ murr victims, cludg Gay History Wiki, Internatnal Transgenr Day of Remembrance, In Memoriam: Lbian Murr Victims, Unerased: Countg Transgenr Liv, the Genr Public Advocy Coaln’s 50 Unr 30 report and a Human Rights Campaign report documentg hate crim between 1998 and 2002.

Siarly, we didn’t clu victims whose attackers ed the gay panic fense or people victimized at gay clubs unls we found other ditns that they intified as members of the LGBTQ muny. Jimenez, 60, a Brooklyn native who spls his time between New York and Santa Fe, NM, has seen his work attacked by anizatns om the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn to the Matthew Shepard Foundatn, which helped ph through a 2009 feral hate-crim law the name of Shepard and Jam Byrd Jr., the black man dragged to his ath behd a pickup tck Texas 1998.

Mois Kfman, founr of the Tectonic Theater Project, wanted to wre an epilogue to The Laramie Project part bee of ntued bate over whether Shepard was killed bee he was gay, or for some other reason.

A lot has changed for gay Amerins the 20 years sce Matthew Shepard, a stunt at the Universy of Wyomg, was beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left for ad by two men he had met at a bar. “Frankly, I don’t unrstand why every state the untry and every untry the world don’t have hate-crime laws, ” said Lléa Newman, an thor and LGBTQ activist who was the keynote speaker for Gay Awarens Week at the Universy of Wyomg the week that Shepard died.

“If you want to add another layer to that, ” said Sara Grossman, spokwoman for the Matthew Shepard Foundatn, “there’s almost 30 stat where you n be fired simply for beg gay.