Ten years gone by

Matthew Wayne Shepard was only 21 years old when he died.

The murder of this vibrant, promising young man captured a nation with its senselessness. His life, full of optimism, intelligence and passion for equality, was ended by two men for a single reason: Shepard was gay.

On the night of Oct. 7, 1998, Matthew met Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney at a bar in Laramie, Wyo., where he attended school at the University of Wyoming. Henderson and McKinney offered Matthew a ride, and preceded to pistol whip, torture and rob him, finally leaving him tied to a fence to die.

He was found 18 hours later by a cyclist and taken to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. He fought his severe injuries for five days before passing away early in the morning on Oct. 12, 1998.

Henderson and McKinney were arrested soon after Shepard’s death. Although initially they tried to provide alibis and later stories to defend their actions, Henderson agreed to testify against McKinney in order to avoid the death penalty.

Both men were given life sentences and are currently incarcerated in a Nevada prison due to overcrowding in the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

This murder affected people intensely, as it should have. As a Wyoming native, I was ashamed for a long time to even say I was from there. It was devastating for me to come to terms with the fact that there were people out there who were that hateful and ignorant.

Unfortunately, this is a reality, especially in rural areas like Wyoming, where so many people have not encountered other lifestyles and cultures. People fear what they do not understand. Rumors flew about the “real” reasons behind the crime–they only meant to rob him, Shepard made advances toward the men, there was a hit out on Shepard for not paying his drug dealer. Basically no one wanted to believe the truth: that an innocent person was murdered simply because of his sexual orientation.

Shortly after Matthew Shepard’s death, legislation to incorporate crimes against the LGBT population into hate crimes prosecution was created. Oregon’s own Sen. Gordon Smith (R), along with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), has worked to pass the bill, which has never gained approval through Congress.

Smith, who is running against Jeff Merkley for re-election, has recently unleashed ads proclaiming his duty to the gay and lesbian voters by working for this bill. However, Basic Rights Oregon calls him out, citing his resistance to supporting gay marriage. It is sad, but clear, to this voter that Smith is clearly just using this “pet cause” to gain votes from the gay and lesbian demographic. Fighting against discrimination cannot be done halfway. You either support them or you don’t, Mr. Smith.

Perhaps even more heinous than Smith’s smokescreen is the fact that the Matthew Shepard Act (HR 1592 and S 1105), a hate-crime law that would include crimes motivated by the victim’s gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, never got fully passed, as it was dropped altogether. By stonewalling this bill’s passing, Congress is failing to protect the LGBT citizens of this country.

It boggles my mind that, after such an incredibly violent and nonsensical crime, it has not become clear to our legislators that a bill like this needs to be made law. George W. Bush has stated that he will likely veto the bill should it come across his desk (surprise, surprise), however it is hopeful that with a new president elected soon, this legislation has a hope of being revived.

We’ve come a long way for civil rights, even in the last decade, but there is still so much work to be done. As long as there are people out there who will discriminate and conduct violent behavior against certain groups, hate crime legislation will be needed to protect groups like the LGBT community.

It is unfortunate that gay rights, African-American rights and women’s rights even have to be spoken of–shouldn’t we all be entitled to basic human rights? As long as we have to characterize rights based on groups, we aren’t making much progress.

It is very important, on this anniversary of this young man’s passing, that we stand behind the lawmakers who support this bill, and fight to make it law. Write to senators, protest in the streets, make your voice heard. States should have the proper laws and tools to prosecute and charge criminals for these hideous misdeeds.

If awareness, proper legislation and tolerance had been more of a factor that fateful night a decade ago, perhaps Matt Shepard would still be alive today. He is still sorely missed.