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Since those early days following the attack, we have become more n October 1998, the world first learned the story of a young college-aged complacent than we should. So much so, that there are online commentaries man who was brutally attacked, tied to a fence post and left to die on about the relevance of Shepard’s attack compared to, say, the Stonewall riots the cold Wyoming prarie. The bicyclist who found Matthew Shepard or the 1987 fight in the LGBT rights movement. It’s like debating whether the clinging to life nearly 18 hours later was quoted as saying the bloodied chicken or the egg is more important in the poultry industry—it’s a waste of time 21-year-old appeared so lifeless that he thought the young gay man was a and energy. It’s the combined effects of each milestone that creates the whole scarecrow. spirit of equality that is finally gaining momentum in our country. The story horrified the nation, inspired a dramatic play and spawned the The year Shepard died, I was in the first semester of my senior year at the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act that finally saw a presidential pen to paper 11 University of Missouri. Like most college students, I thought the world revolved years later. Time has a way of easing pain, diluting shock and erasing memories. It’s easy around me, my studies and the inner turmoil surrounding my own sexuality. Sharing the secrets of my same-sex attractions, especially with my family, tied to forget about the violent crime perpetrated against the man so many people my stomach in knots, distracted me from school work described as intelligent, inspiring and sweet. Countless and led to a substantial number of sleepless nights. young LGBTs born since that October night have More fear was injected into my life when I heard reached their teen years, not knowing the overwhleming Through his death, about Shepard’s murder. If such a horrific end could sorrow and rage that accompanied the news of befall a man who was only four months older than I was Steve Blanchard Shepard’s murder. They are no different than those Matthew Shepard and had the support of his parents, what horrors could children who have been born since the terrorist attacks EDITOR not only proved the SteveB@WatermarkOnline.com of Sept. 11, 2001. We forget there are those among us my own future hold? existence of anti-gay Like everyone else on the planet, I’ve fantasized who did not experience the tragedy firsthand. about going back in time, sharing a drink with the The crime against Shepard was pointless and tragic, hate, but gave us a much-younger-me and telling him about the successes yet it galvanized the nation—specifically the LGBT weapon to combat it. in my life. I’d share that although my parents would community and our allies—to stand up and demand never fully embrace me as a gay man, but they’d learn protections from those who target us specifically to respect me. I’d offer that religion is a practice used because of our sexual orientation or gender identity. by too many to condemn others, when it’s really our Shepard died from his wounds on Oct. 12, 1998, spirituality with which we should concern ourselves. five days after he was lured to that barren, deserted area of Wyoming. The news And I’d let my much-younger-self know that I would be more involved media covered the story in detail, including the trial and conviction of his two in LGBT issues than I ever imagined, thanks to my involvement with this attackers. newspaper. But that hate crime against the college student was not the first attack on a As we continue to reach milestones in our march toward equality, we can’t gay man in the country—and it certainly wasn’t the last. Ryan Keith Skipper was forget the struggles we’ve seen and those we’ve lost along the way. beaten and murdered in an eerily similar way right here in Florida in 2007. Matthew Shepard was an advocate for equality who would have turned 35 on Shepard’s murder, however, was the crime that we would not let anti-gay crusaders push behind closed doors. Through his death, Shepard not only proved Dec. 1, 2011. If only he were around to celebrate our milestones with us. | l | the existence of anti-gay hate, but gave us a weapon to combat it.
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