Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard was a young gay man who became the victim of a brutal hate crime in October 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming. After meeting Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney at a local bar, he was violently attacked, pistol-whipped, and left tied to a fence in subzero temperatures. He succumbed to his injuries five days later in a Colorado hospital, an event that garnered national and international attention. The crime was widely recognized as motivated by homophobia, although at the time, there were no laws allowing for hate crime charges.
Shepard's death sparked significant media coverage and public outcry, leading to a cultural response that included memorials and the acclaimed play "The Laramie Project." It also highlighted the need for stronger hate crime legislation, culminating in the 2009 enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This law made it a federal crime to assault individuals based on their sexual orientation, marking a crucial step forward for LGBTQ+ rights. However, debates persist regarding the motivations behind his murder, with some controversial narratives suggesting alternative explanations. Shepard’s legacy continues to influence discussions around hate crimes and civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community.
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Matthew Shepard
Murder Victim
- Born: December 1, 1976
- Birthplace: Casper, Wyoming
- Died: October 12, 1998
- Place of death: Fort Collins, Colorado
Shepard’s murder raised the public’s awareness of hate crimes against gay people and led to demands for state and federal hate crime laws.
When Matthew Shepard met Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming, on the night of October 6–7, 1998, he thought he was meeting two fellow gay men. He was wrong. He left the bar with the men, who later pistol-whipped him and tied him to a fence, leaving him for dead. By the time a passing cyclist found him, he was beyond help, and he died in a Fort Collins, Colorado, hospital on October 12.
After police found evidence in the perpetrators’ truck connecting them to the crime, Henderson and McKinney were arrested. Without question their attack was motivated by homophobia. They chose Shepard because of his sexual orientation, hoping to rob him and later deciding to try to burglarize his home. However, the pair could not be charged with a hate crime, as no state or federal statute allowed for such a charge.
In 1999, Henderson pleaded guilty (thereby avoiding the death penalty) and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. McKinney pleaded not guilty but was convicted easily, and the prosecution initially wanted to seek the death penalty. However, Shepard’s mother, Judy, interceded and asked prosecutors to work a plea bargain that would allow McKinney to keep his life. McKinney agreed to sacrifice any right to appeal the trial and to serve two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole.
Impact
Media attention surrounding the tragedy had a huge effect on the public. Celebrities denounced the crime, and Shepard was memorialized in films and music, including the popular play The Laramie Project, which toured throughout the country. However, at least one group, Kansas’s Westboro Baptist Church, claimed that Shepard’s death was justified based on his sexual orientation. The group’s very public stance, which included picketing Shepard’s funeral and his attackers’ trials, only demonstrated the need for more inclusive hate crime legislation. President Bill Clinton even called for Congress to draft stronger hate crime legislation. Change, however, was slow to come. In 2007, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a version of a hate crime bill inclusive of crimes against gay people, dubbed the Matthew Shepard Act. However, President George W. Bush suggested that he would veto the bill if it reached him.
Finally, in October 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes and Prevention Act of 2009 into law, rendering the assault of an individual based on his or her sexual orientation a federal crime. While the expanded act was an important step in regard to the civil rights of gay people, Obama emphasized that there were still several anti-gay laws that needed to be changed. Meanwhile, debates over the true motives behind Shepard's murder continued to rage years after the incident had occurred, due to journalists' interviews with the convicted attackers and controversial writings such as Stephen Jimenez's The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths about the Murder of Matthew Shepard, which alleges that the crime may have been mainly related to drug use.
Bibliography
Bindel, Julie. "The Truth behind America's Most Famous Gay-Hate Murder." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 26 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 June 2016.
Loffreda, Beth. Losing Matt Shepard: Life and Politics in the Aftermath of Anti-Gay Murder. New York: Columbia UP, 2000. Print.
"Obama Signs Hate Crimes Bill into Law." CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 June 2016.
Patterson, Romaine, and Patrick Hinds. The Whole World Was Watching: Living in the Light of Matthew Shepard. New York: Advocate, 2005. Print.
Shepard, Judy. The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. New York: Plume, 2009. Print.