Matthew Shepard’s Father Remembers When He Learned His Son Was Gay

      Matthew, Judy and Dennis Shepard

Nearly 17 years have passed since Matthew Shepard was murdered on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming, yet for many people who marched in the streets in the days after his death it still feels like yesterday.

The outpouring of anger, disbelief and passion stimulated unprecedented conversation and resulted in groundbreaking hate crimes legislation. Earlier this year, Michele Josue released Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, a documentary she’d directed about the man she’d gotten to know well when they were both students at a boarding school in Switzerland in 1993.

The documentary used Matt’s personal journals, home movies and interviews with his other close friends to reveal a rarely seen version of the young man as a sensitive and fun-loving friend, son and brother, a side of Shepard that’s been largely overshadowed by his status as a symbolic gay martyr.

The doc will premiere on Logo tonight.

Get More: Logo Documentary Films, Logo TV

MATTHEW SHEPARD'S PARENTS HEAD TO RUSSIA TO FIGHT ANTI-LGBT INTOLERANCE

The parents of Matthew Shepard are heading to hostile territory in hopes of bringing a message of tolerance to Russia. Dennis and Judy depart for St. Petersburg to attend the screening of a movie about their slain son and then move on to Moscow, where they hope to meet with parents of LGBT youth. In a country where gays are consistently harassed for spreading so-called "propaganda", the Shepards hope to bring a message of tolerance on their five-day trip. But given how entrenched anti-LGBT attitudes have become under the rule of Vladimir Putin, they know it won't be easy.

“Putin has made it so unhealthy to be LGBT or an ally,” Dennis Shepard told the AP in an interview about their trip. “It will take at least a generation to clean up the mess he’s made and get some acceptance.”

Their first stop will be a screening of Matthew Shepard is a Friend of Mine at the Side by Side Film Festival in St. Petersburg, an annual event since 2008 which has been promoting LGBT tolerance while drawing criticism from government officials there. But filmmaker Michele Josue, who was a close friend of Matthew's in high school, feels strongly about screening her film in a hostile environment.

"We've been preaching to the choir," she said of previous screenings in the U.S. "It's important to get our film seen by a community that didn't have access to it."

The film, which has been on the festival circuit this year, makes its NYC premiere tonight at the Doc NYC Festival. You can watch the moving trailer

The memory and meaning of Matthew Shepard, 16 years later

Courtesy the Matthew Shepard Foundation

On October 7, 1998, Aaron Kreifels was riding his bike through a field in Wyoming.

He wasn’t expecting that day to be different from any other beautiful sunny afternoon in the vast plains surrounding Laramie, but that day would change many lives.

Aaron spotted what he initially thought was a scarecrow next to a fence. Then he noticed a glisten of blood. The sun sparkled on what he barely recognized as a face.

Aaron had discovered 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, clinging to life.

The young college student had been viciously attacked and bludgeoned, and then tied to a fence and left to die. Matthew was targeted because he was gay.

Most of you know what happened next. Matthew held on for five more days and as his parents held his hand and prayed — Matthew slipped away quietly on October 12th, leaving in his wake a new movement for equality.

The outcries for justice and for greater protections were immediate and resonating.

Since then, Matthew’s mother Judy has made it her personal mission to protect all young LGBT people from Matthew’s horrific fate. In founding the Matthew Shepard Foundation, she has created safe spaces in and outside of schools for kids, and worked with parents to ensure their children learn to erase hate from their lives.

But overwhelmingly what you saw in 1998 was a community ready to act, ready to change something. And Matthew’s story was the catalyst for that.

Many of you have seen or read the Moises Kaufman play, The Laramie Project – Matthew’s story as told through interviews of those who were living in Laramie at the time – some of his friends and some who just happened to be riding a bike through the plains of Wyoming that day.

If you think of nothing else today, please consider the importance of telling your story – and how your story can change the world around you.

This young man, unbeknownst to him, has changed the world with his.

NBA to Donate Proceeds from Jason Collins Jerseys to LGBT Groups

The NBA will donate proceeds from sales of Jason Collins jerseys to LGBT causes, specifically GLSEN and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the Guardian reports:

The league said on Friday that donations would total no less than $100,000, and it will also auction off Collins’s autographed, game-worn jerseys to benefit the same organisations.

Collins says he is thrilled to help the organisations that “work tirelessly to ensure LGBT youth get the resources and assistance they need to be successful in life”.

Jason Collins Wearing Number 98 Jersey In Honor Of Matthew Shepard

Jason Collins will once again don a Number 98 jersey when the Brooklyn Nets take on the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday—the number, which he wore with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, is in honor of Matthew Shepard, the young gay man brutally murdered in 1998.

“It’s really exciting—I’m really excited for him. To bring Matt’s story into it, to continue to keep Matt’s story out there, it reminds people that this is the kind of thing that happens and is still happening, even if we don’t read about it like we used to,” said Matt’s mother, Judy Shepard, who has been a tireless advocate for the LGBT community. “We were very touched. For him to make that tribute to Matt was meaningful to us.”

Matthew shepardCollins had been wearing No. 98 for several years, but its significance only became clear after he came out. He wanted to wear the number at Sunday’s game against the L.A. Lakers, but the team only had one spare jersey on the road, No. 46. Full story here via VJ Brendan!

Today we remember Matthew!

Today in History

1989: Matthew Shepard was tragically attacked, pistol whipped, tied to a fence and left to die by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. Shepard, who was still alive but in a coma, was discovered 18 hour later Matthew passed away a few days later on October 12, 1998.

Matthews murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. For details on the Matthew Shepard story as a whole visit here. 

AHT: I can't believe it has been 15 years already. I admire his mother Judy for all that she has done and continues to do in spreading a positive message of love and acceptance. That time was so difficult for me. On the first of October my father passed away and shortly afterwards I got mono.

Mississippi Football Players Disrupt College Play about Matthew Shepard

A University of Mississippi professor says that a group of Ole Miss students, including football players, disrupted a production of a campus play with "hate speech" on Tuesday night.

Michael Barnett, the assistant theatre chair, said that several students in the play told him that audience members were disruptive and used "derogatory terms" for homosexuals during a production of "The Laramie Project" on campus.

Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze confirmed to The Associated Press Thursday that football players were in the crowd. Barnett says a group of football players apologized after the play.

"Several of the students said they did not feel the apology was genuine," Barnett said. "They seemed to feel that (the football players) didn’t realize what it was that they were apologizing for." Full story here!

Matthew Shepard Foundation Slams New Book Disputing Role Of Anti-Gay Hate In Shepard's Murder

The Matthew Shepard Foundation has denounced a re-telling of the murder of Matthew Shepard put forth by Stephen Jimenez in his new book, The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard. As previously reported, Jimenez, who is gay, argues that it was not anti-gay prejudice that motivated Aaron McKinney to murder Shepard but rather a "drug-fueled rage that had nothing to do with [Matthew's] sexuality." According to Jimenez, "McKinney had been a male hustler, had been familiar with gay guys and gay bars...He really did like having sex with gay guys and...he was not unfamiliar with homosexuality and the gay world." Jimenez also asserts that gay rights advocates were responsible for perpetuating a false narrative that focused on anti-gay hate to help push through hate crime legislation nationally. The New York Daily News reports:

"Attempts now to rewrite the story of this hate crime appear to be based on untrustworthy sources, factual errors, rumors and innuendo rather than the actual evidence gathered by law enforcement and presented in a court of law," the foundation said in a release [...] 

As the book's release date approaches, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which was founded 15 years ago, issued a statement that reaffirms Shepard was "killed in a brutal, anti-gay hate crime.

"We do not respond to innuendo, rumor or conspiracy theories. Instead we remain committed to honoring Matthew's memory, and refuse to be intimidated by those who seek to tarnish it," the statement reads.

This is not the first time someone attempted to change the accepted narrative of Shepard's murder. Back in 2004, ABC's "20/20" ran a controversial report in which McKinney said it was a meth-fueled robbery that ended violently — not a hate crime.

McKinney said he targeted the 21-year-old University of Wyoming freshman because he was well-dressed and assumed he would have a lot of money.

Many gay-rights activists and scholars criticized the "20/20" report arguing it ignored the evidence that anti-gay hatred fueled the brutal Oct. 7, 1998, murder in which Shepard was tied to a fence, tortured and left for dead.

Iowa High School Principal Bans 'The Laramie Project', Says It's 'Too Adult'

A high school principal and superintendent in Ottumwa, Iowa are denying the students the right to perform The Laramie Project, Moisés Kaufman's play about the hate crime murder of gay Wyoming teen Matthew Shepard.

The Ottumwa Courier reports:

"None of us can understand why they are shying away from it," said Jordan Young, 16, a student who is secretary of the OHS drama club. "The principal [of OHS] wants to get away from bullying, and he has initiatives he really [pushes]. So to hit so hard on a show that addresses bullying, it makes no sense."

She said other students she's met with feel similarly. "We were all confused more than anything," she said. "We didn't understand what was wrong with it. The planning started in October of last year. We have auditions in a month and a half!" She said students believe the problem lies in the subject of the play.

The Heartland Connection adds:

OHS Principal Mark Hanson denied the play from being performed through the school’s drama department. We reached out to Principal Hanson but he did not want to go on camera but he said “the play is too adult for a high school production but it does preach a great message.”

Ottumwa Community School’s Superintendent Davis Eidahl (pictured, top) says he fully supports Principal Hanson’s decision. “We really want the focus of our Ottumwa High School productions to be for the entire family,” said Eidahl.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation released a statement, which reads, in part:

This is not a play about being gay, or promoting anyone being gay; it’s about being targeted, hurt, murdered for being different, or perceived to be different, whatever that difference may be – and how this affects the community.

It is regrettable that the administration decided not to take the lead to provide their students and their community such an important learning opportunity, and instead is focused on a desire to show off their auditorium in what they feel is a “family-friendly” manner. We respectfully suggest that the main mission of a school district is to educate, not to entertain.

Judy Shepard’s weeps over gay marriage rulings: ‘I wish (Matthew had) been here to see it’

Matthew Shepard was murdered in a hate crime 15 years ago. He will never be forgotten and one of the reasons is because of the tireless work of his family who successfully pushed for hate crime legislation on a federal level.

Judy Shepard was in tears as she reflected on today’s Supreme Court rulings on California’s Prop. 8 and the striking down of the Defense of Marriage Act.

She told People.com:

“There had been a [news] story about same-sex marriage and he was debating it with me. He asked me if I thought gay couples would ever be allowed to get married and he wasn’t at all optimistic it would happen. He was in a mindset of, ‘People are never going to accept us or understand us.’ It was a much different world then. There was activism happening, yes. And we were moving on from the AIDS pandemic. But ignorance and the fear out there was its own pandemic. For Matthew, it was a very secret world still.”

Matthew Shepard's Mom Moved to Tears By Jason Collins' Gesture

Jason Collins became the first active NBA player to come out, and the Shepards say his example will be a model to young people.

BY Lucas Grindley

May 01 2013 12:13 PM ET

Among the touching details that Jason Collins revealed when coming out in that Sports Illustrated op-ed was the revelation that his number, 98, is actually a tribute to Matthew Shepard. And when she heard that, Shepard's mom said it moved her to tears.

"To hear the story behind his number, well, I cried," said Judy Shepard during an interview with Headline News. "I thought it was such a tribute to Matt, to Matt's story, and to so many other yon people who are struggling. His own silent, private tribute, I was very moved."

Matthew Shepard is the gay college student who was murdered in Wyoming in an infamous hate crime in 1998. During President Obama's first term, a federal hate crimes law was passed that bears his name.

Collins is the first active NBA player to come out, and he had worn a jersey number in honor of Shepard without ever explaining why.

"When I put on my jersey I was making a statement to myself, my family and my friends," Collins wrote in the op-ed.

In the video below, watch the entire interview with the Shepards during which they talk about Collins' impact on young people.