The death of a gay student, tortured and tied to a prairie fence in Wyoming two decades ago, shocked America. As Matthew Shepard's ashes are interred in the nation's spiritual home, those who knew him reflect on his remarkable legacy. It was the dental brace. That's how Judy and Dennis Shepard knew it was their son in the hospital bed. "Bandages and stitches all over his face," Judy says, "and bandages around his head where the final blow had crushed his brain stem. "His fingers and toes were curled in a comatose position already. Tubes everywhere enabling his body to stay alive. "One of his eyes was partially open so you could see his blue eyes and the tubes in his mouth. You could see his braces, so of course it's Matt. "His face was swollen, actually kind of unrecognisable till you got closer." Two nights earlier, on Tuesday 6 October 1998, Matthew Shepard walked alone into a dive bar in Laramie. T...
Striving for a World without Capital Punishment