Matthew Shepard’s Parents Have Harsh Words for Amy Coney Barrett
"People are people, and I would hate to think that you would reject one of your children because they happen to be gay," Judy Shepard said.
October 13 2020 5:51 PM
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When he was just 21, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was offered a ride home by two straight men. The violence that happened next shocked a nation into action. After being beaten, robbed, and tortured, he was left for dead in the wilderness where he lay tied to a fence for 18 hours before someone found him. He never regained consciousness. The media coverage of the attack and the trial--where the murderers tried explaining away their attack by saying Matthew tried to come on to them--awoke a nation to the reality of anti-LGBT hate crimes, and has since led to hate-crime legislation protecting queer Americans.
"People are people, and I would hate to think that you would reject one of your children because they happen to be gay," Judy Shepard said.
Hate crime victim's remains were interred there last year.
Judy and Dennis Shepard reflect on the 10th anniversary of the hate-crimes law bearing their son's name, which is the subject of a new Oxygen special.
It's "hypocritical" for Barr to celebrate the hate-crimes law named for their son while supporting discrimination, Judy and Dennis Shepard said.
Coming off of the 20th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, his parents, Judy and Dennis, will be ally marshals of the event.
Shepard's ashes were interred today at the Washington National Cathedral.
It's easy to think the world has completely evolved since 1998; the truth is more nuanced.
Fate brought Leslea Newman to Laramie, Wyo., just as Matthew Shepard was leaving this world.
Former Advocate editor-in-chief Judy Wieder discusses what it was like covering the murder of Matthew Shepard.
The site will offer visitors an opportunity for reflection and provide protection from the desecration Matthew's family feared.
In the two decades since the gay college student's murder, his legacy lives on in the foundation started by Judy and Dennis Shepard. But there's still much left to do.
People like Tyler Oakley and musician Gio Bravo posed for a purpose as we close in on 20 years since Matthew Shepard's death.
Judy and Dennis Shepard took their son's tragedy and built a foundation to make something good out of something so heartbreakingly tragic.
A new generation fights for our rights 20 years after one of the nation's most infamous antigay hate crimes.
An icon for a new generation of activists, social media star Tyler Oakley revels in possibilities.
Haley Videckis and Layana Whitewent from student athletes to pioneering plaintiffs, and in the process changed the country for the better.
Filmmaker Shayna Maci Warner is focusing on increasing and improving representation in her often-invisible community.
Would Matthew Shepard's killing have gotten the attention it did if he was black? Edwin Bodney knows the answer to that question.