From 'Heather' to Harvey to Matthew Shepard, Lesléa Newman Chronicles Queer History
This author, and one of our Advocates of the Year, has been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ history for over 30 years.
October 23 2023 12:49 PM
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.