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| Matthew Shepard |
Today (12 October) marks the 16th anniversary of the death of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard. His parents have spoken out about homophobia, hate, their son's death and the work of the Matthew Shepard Foundation
Matthew Shepard was killed in a brutal gay bashing that shocked the world.
He was abducted and tortured by two men, before being left to die – tied to a fence – near the town of Laramie, Wyoming.
Discovered 18 hours later, he was taken to hospital but died six days later on 12 October 1998 from the severe head injuries that he had suffered. He was 21.
His attackers were arrested and eventually sentenced to two-consecutive life sentences each for the crime.
His parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard subsequently created the Matthew Shepard Foundation, to raise awareness around homophobia and diversity.
On Friday (10 Oct), ahead of the anniversary of Matthew’s death, they spoke to Canada’s Daily Xtra about the Foundation’s work in raising awareness and ways to tackle homophobia.
‘People fear what they don’t know or understand. Sometimes that fear leads to violence, hatred, bias, prejudice: all those things,’ says Judy.
‘We find that cities, like for example Toronto, you find a more accepting environment because diversity is a part of everybody’s everyday life.
‘When you go to a more rural area, in the States or even in Canada, you find less acceptance because they see no diversity. They don’t understand it exists, they don’t know what it is so they’re fearful of it. Stereotypes reign supreme where there’s no diversity.’
They speak about the experience of attending their son’s funeral, and avoiding ‘haters’ who picketed the event because their son was gay. Judy, magnanimously, dismisses those who chose to protest at her son’s funeral as ‘silly’.
They also say why they didn’t push for Matthew’s killers to receive the death penalty – despite his father initially wanting to do so.
Source: Gay Star News, October 12, 2014