Listen to the story on NPR
I heard this story on NPR as I was driving to school, and it seemed to serendipitously concide with the week that we are discussing issues surrounding gender and sexual orientation. As I was walking to/from the library to check out the video It's Elementary, I also noticed signs on the sidewalk saying "Remember Matthew Shepard!" and "It's ok to be gay." I'm not sure if this week was planned to coincide with the 10th year of Matthew Shepard's murder (probably not!) but it's quite timely that it did.
I remember hearing about this story when I was in college, although at the time it did not have a huge impact on me. I was still living in a sheltered environment and I didn't have any openly gay friends that I knew of. 10 years later, I hear about this story and I am apalled that crimes like this happen - but even more so, I am appalled that people - like the ones in this story - make up excuses to cover up the prejudices that are a the root at the crime. For example, people are quoted in this story as saying that it is a drug-related issue and not related to sexual orientation at all. It seems that this story is completely unfounded, but perpetuated to make the crime look more acceptable.
I find Shepard's mother Judy to be an inspiration and an example of how to be an advocate for gay and lesbian rights. Since losing Matthew, she says that she thinks he would be "proud" of her and "surprised" to see what she has accomplished in this new role. Too often it takes some tragic or hateful incident to prompt people to action! I also think that she can play a unique role as a heterosexual advocate of gay/lesbian rights; as was mentioned in "It's Elementary in Appalachia," having strong heterosexual role models who are willing to make sacrifices for gay rights is powerful and necessary to see some of these changes be made in our society.
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