A LETTER FROM JUDY SHEPARD
Hello my friends,

It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since Matthew's death. So much has changed yet so much remains the same. I want to thank all of you for your unwavering support for the Foundation. I know that you understand our work is far from over. I don’t mean the work of the Foundation exclusively, I mean the work we all need to do at a personal level. We need to continue talking to our friends, families and co-workers. Unless we are honest about whom we are and are able to share with those who love us what our lives are like, they will not know how to help us. We need those allies in this struggle to achieve equality across the board to realize all of our civil rights.

Great advances have been made in changing people’s attitudes and eliminating ignorance about the gay community even in my wonderful state of Wyoming. At least I thought so, until I read the readers' comments following an article about the ten-year observance of Matt's death in the Cheyenne, Wyoming newspaper. I understand that the readers who take the time to write in are doing so because they absolutely disagree with the article and those who do agree won’t bother to write comments. However, it brought home to me how much work is left to do to make the world an accepting place. The level of ignorance is astounding. The continuing belief that what happened to Matt was not a hate crime and the notion that ‘special people shouldn’t have special rights’, is beyond my comprehension. The level of ‘hate’ is frightening.

The Foundation staff is very committed to doing all they can to ensure the message - ‘erase hate’ - is one that is known to the community and its allies as well as those who are trying learn more about the Foundation and the LGBT community at large. It is ignorance that ultimately results in hate and that may escalate into physical violence. The only way to combat the ignorance is to educate and tell our stories. We are all aware of how important this election cycle is to all of us. Please take the time to know the issues and what is at stake for the LGBT community. Share your stories with those who care about you. It is the only way they will know how to vote to support you. The privilege of having the right to vote is also a responsibility. We must remember that we are not voting only for a new President but also for representatives at the local, county, state and national level. Please vote and encourage everyone you know to vote. Apathy is unacceptable. We are at a cross roads in the movement and we need to show our support for those who support the LGBT community. We are all hoping the next ten years will be our time.

If you wish to learn more about the Foundation and the work we are doing now, please visit www.MatthewShepard.org or www.MatthewsPlace.com Thank you again for being a part of what we do.

Sincerely,

Judy Shepard

MATTHEW'S LIFE
The life and death of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about and deal with hate in the United States. For the past ten years, the legacy of this remarkable young man's life has challenged and inspired millions of individuals to erase hate in all forms.

Matthew Shepard

Although his life was short, it continues to have a great impact on both young and old alike. The story of Matthew Shepard begins on December 1, 1976 when he was born prematurely to Judy and Dennis Shepard in the small city of Casper, Wyoming. Matthew attended school in Casper until his junior year of high school when he finished his primary education at The American School in Switzerland. His experience abroad fueled his love for travel. He took the opportunity to explore Europe and learn multiple languages including German and Italian. Matthew was an optimistic and accepting young man. He always put his family and friends first and had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person that was very approachable and always looked to new challenges. Matthew had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people's differences. Throughout his life he expressed his love for acting by becoming very active in community theater both on and off stage.

Matthew's college career took him to a number of different universities and later ended up studying political science, foreign relations and languages at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He was extremely interested in politics and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council. The horrific events that took place shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998 went against everything that Matthew embodied. Two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, lead him to a remote area east of Laramie where they demonstrated unimaginable acts of hate. Matthew was tied to a split-rail fence where he was beaten and left to die in the cold of the night. Almost 18 hours later he was found by a cyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. Matthew died on October 12 at 12:53 am at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. His entire family was by his side for the last few days of his life. His funeral was attended by friends and family from around the world and gained the appropriate media attention that brought Matthew's story to the forefront of the fight against hate. This tragedy helped the nation wake up to the fact that hate and discrimination still lives in our communities, our schools and our families. Although his life was cut short, the impact of his spirit is great.

MEMORIAL TO MATTHEW SHEPARD
Welcome and thank you...

We are here tonight because we have an important role to play in the fight against hatred and discrimination against persons whose sexual orientation is GLBT That role involves the condemnation of violence and abuse in any form, against any person, for any reason. It also involves educating those whose ignorance regarding sexual orientation contributes to their perpetuation of any violence against GLBT, either by their own brutal acts, or their silence against such acts that places them in compliance with them. And finally, that role involves offering a witness that people from all walks of life – including people of faith – understand, as the Rev. Dr. Stephen Shoemaker once preached, that “morality has to do with behavior, not wiring.”

In 2007, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, there was a 24% increase over 2006 in reported violence against GLBT – and surely the actually statistics are higher than that. The number of murders more than doubled: from 10 in 2006, to 21 in 2007. Some of the victims were not yet 21. And the number of suicides among teens has risen as well. Dallas Drake, principal researcher for the Center for Homicide Research, says suicide and homicide are “opposite sides of the same coin... Of course it’s not politically palatable for anyone to come out and say, ‘Kill gay kids’ But by preaching messages that lower the self-esteem of LGBT teenagers, homophobes can get people to do the job themselves.”

Some of the murderers of gay teens, when interviewed, were actually proud of their crimes, and supported Bible verse in their defense.

Modern science has shed a great deal of light on our previous ignorance regarding sexual orientation. Now we have to bring this message of enlightenment to the masses, confront the fear that drives the hatred and revulsion, and create safe spaces where the difficult work of recasting cultural norms can proceed at the hands of caring persons.

So, once again, welcome, and thank you for standing strong and building bridges of hope together.

source: Crisis: 40 stories revealing the personal, social, and religious pain and trauma of growing
up gay in America, ed. by Mitchell Gold, Greenleaf Book Press, 2008