December 1: Matthew Shepard, Murdered

b.  December 1, 1976
d.  October 12, 1998

"Every American child deserves the strongest protections from some of the country’s most horrifying crimes." – Judy Shepard

As a gay college student, Matthew Shepard was the victim of a deadly hate crime. His murder brought national and international attention to the need for GLBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation.

Shepard was born in Casper, Wyoming, to Judy and Dennis Shepard. He was the older of two sons. Matthew completed high school at The American School in Switzerland. In 1998, he enrolled at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Soon afterward, he joined the campus gay alliance.

On October 6, 1998, two men—Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson—lured Shepard from a downtown Laramie bar. After Shepard acknowledged that he was gay, McKinney and Henderson beat and tortured him, then tied him to a tree in a remote, rural area and left him for dead. Eighteen hours later, a biker, who thought he saw a scarecrow, found Shepard barely breathing.

Shepard was rushed to the hospital, but never regained consciousness. He died on October 12. Both of Shepard’s killers were convicted of felony murder and are serving two consecutive life sentences.

Despite the outcome of the trial, the men who took Shepard’s life were not charged with a hate crime. Wyoming has no hate crimes law, which protects victims of crimes motivated by bias against a protected class. Shepard’s high-profile murder case sparked protests, vigils and calls for federal hate crimes legislation for GLBT victims of violence.

Shortly after their son's death, Judy and Dennis Shepard founded The Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor his memory and to "replace hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance." Judy Shepard became a GLBT activist and the most recognized voice in the fight for a federal hate crimes bill.

In 2009, more than a decade after Shepard’s murder, The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) was signed into law. HCPA added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes, giving the United States Department of Justice the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violent crimes against GLBT victims.

Dozens of songs have been written and recorded to honor Matthew Shepard's legacy. Several films, television movies and plays about him have been produced, including "The Laramie Project" (2002) and "The Matthew Shepard Story" (2002).

Bibliography

"Cultural Depictions of Matthew Shepard.” Answers.com. 14 June 2010.

Hackett, Richard M. "11 Years after Shepard's Death, Mom Pushes for Hate-Crime Law.” USA TODAY. 10 June 2010.

"Matthew Shepard.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 10 June 2010.

"Matthew's Life." Matthew Shepard Foundation. 10 June 2010.

“Shepard, Matthew." glbtq.com. 14 June 2010.

Books about Matthew Shepard

Blood & Tears: Poems for Matthew Shepard by Scott Gibson (1999)

Losing Matt Shepard by Beth Loffreda (2000)

From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard by Mary E Swigonski, Robin Mama, and Kelly Ward (2001)

The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed by Judy Shepard (2009)

Articles about Matthew Shepard

New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

The New York Times Topics: Matthew Shepard

Videos and Films Related to Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard

The Laramie Project (2002)

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (2008)

Websites

Matthew Shepard Foundation

Notable Names Database (NNDB): Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard Memorial

The Laramie Project

October 30th in LGBT History

Events in LGBT History: 

Born this day

Louise Abbéma (1853 - 1927), French

Portrait painter, and lover of the actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Nestor Almendros ( 1930 – 1992) Spanish 

Oscar winning cinematographer. One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light was natural light......" 

Timothy Findley ( 1930 – 2002 ) Canadian 

Novelist and playwright. His writing was heavily influenced by Jungian psychology, and mental illness, gender and sexuality were frequent recurring themes in his work. He publicly mentioned his homosexuality, passingly and perhaps for the first time, on a broadcast of the programme The Shulman File in the 1970s.

Claude Janiak (1948 – ) Swiss 

Swiss politician of Polish origin, lawyer and President of the Swiss National Council for the 2005/2006 term. He was the first openly homosexual President of the Swiss National Council.

P Craig Russell (1951 –  US 

Comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay

Arthur Dong (1953 – ) US 

Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker. His work combines the art of the visual medium with an investigation of social issues, examining topics such as Asian American history and identity, and gay oppression.

Rex Harrington (1962 – ) Canadian 

Ballet dancer. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2005, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by York University and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Geert Blanchard (1966 - ) Belgian 

Ice-skater and singer, who was the first Belgian gay sportsman to have a public coming-out. Later, he had an equally public ex-gay outing.

Jack Plotnick (1968 – ) US 

Film and television actor. Plotnick is openly gay, best known for performances on Ellen, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as the voice of Xandir on Drawn Together, and his drag persona, "Evie Harris" in Girls Will Be Girls.

Grant Robertson (1971 –  ) New Zealand 

Politician and Member of Parliament. He was elected to represent the Labour Party in the seat of Wellington Central at the 2008 general election. Robertson lives with his partner Alf,who he met through playing rugby together for the Wellington-based Crazy Knights, New Zealand's first gay rugby team.

Died this day:

Ramon Navarro ( 1899 – 1968) Mexican 

A leading man actor in Hollywood in the early 20th century. He was the next male "Sex Symbol" after the death of Rudolph Valentino. Novarro had been troubled all his life as a result of his conflicting views over his Roman Catholic religion and his homosexuality, and his life-long struggle with alcoholism is often traced to these issues. Novarro was the victim of a violent extortion attempt which resulted in his death.

Craig Russell (1948 - 1990) Canadia.  

Female Impersonator  and actor, better known by his stage name Craig Russell.

David “Sinders” Morley (1967 - 2004) UK 

Gay barman, who was manager at the Admiral Duncan pub. He survived the nail bomb attack on the pub in 1999, but five years later in 2004, he was killed in a late night assault, which may have been prompted by homophobia, by a group of teenagers outside Waterloo station.

Sodomy in history, October 30th

1861 — Nevada recognizes common-law crimes, making sodomy a crime with a compulsory sentence of life imprisonment.

1942 — The Nebraska Supreme Court rules that fellatio is outlawed by the state’s law prohibiting "carnal copulation in any opening of the body, except sexual parts."

1944 — The Arizona Supreme Court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man over his claims of privacy rights, the first to be raised in the United States.

1968 — The North Carolina Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction because the indictment didn’t name the "victim." 

Sources:

Wikipedia

glbtq emcyclopedia

On this gay day

Calendar of Sodomy, October

Matthew Shepard, Murdered

 b.  December 1, 1976

d.  October 12, 1998

"Every American child deserves the strongest protections from some of the country’s most horrifying crimes." – Judy Shepard

As a gay college student, Matthew Shepard was the victim of a deadly hate crime. His murder brought national and international attention to the need for GLBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation.

Shepard was born in Casper, Wyoming, to Judy and Dennis Shepard. He was the older of two sons. Matthew completed high school at The American School in Switzerland. In 1998, he enrolled at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Soon afterward, he joined the campus gay alliance.

On October 6, 1998, two men—Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson—lured Shepard from a downtown Laramie bar. After Shepard acknowledged that he was gay, McKinney and Henderson beat and tortured him, then tied him to a tree in a remote, rural area and left him for dead. Eighteen hours later, a biker, who thought he saw a scarecrow, found Shepard barely breathing.

Shepard was rushed to the hospital, but never regained consciousness. He died on October 12. Both of Shepard’s killers were convicted of felony murder and are serving two consecutive life sentences.

Despite the outcome of the trial, the men who took Shepard’s life were not charged with a hate crime. Wyoming has no hate crimes law, which protects victims of crimes motivated by bias against a protected class. Shepard’s high-profile murder case sparked protests, vigils and calls for federal hate crimes legislation for GLBT victims of violence.

Shortly after their son's death, Judy and Dennis Shepard founded The Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor his memory and to "replace hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance." Judy Shepard became a GLBT activist and the most recognized voice in the fight for a federal hate crimes bill.

In 2009, more than a decade after Shepard’s murder, The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) was signed into law. HCPA added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes, giving the United States Department of Justice the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violent crimes against GLBT victims.

Dozens of songs have been written and recorded to honor Matthew Shepard's legacy.  Several films, television movies and plays about him have been produced, including "The Laramie Project" (2002) and "The Matthew Shepard Story" (2002).

Bibliography

• "Cultural Depictions of Matthew Shepard.” Answers.com. 14 June 2010.
• Hackett, Richard M. "11 Years after Shepard's Death, Mom Pushes for Hate-Crime Law.” USA TODAY. 10 June 2010.
• "Matthew Shepard.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 10 June 2010.
• "Matthew's Life." Matthew Shepard Foundation. 10 June 2010.
• “Shepard, Matthew." glbtq.com. 14 June 2010.

Books about Matthew Shepard

• Blood & Tears: Poems for Matthew Shepard by Scott Gibson (1999)
• Losing Matt Shepard by Beth Loffreda (2000)
• From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard by Mary E Swigonski, Robin Mama, and Kelly Ward (2001)
• The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed by Judy Shepard (2009)

Articles about Matthew Shepard

• New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder
• The New York Times Topics: Matthew Shepard

Videos and Films Related to Matthew Shepard

• Matthew Shepard
• The Laramie Project (2002)
• The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (2008)

Websites

• Matthew Shepard Foundation
• Notable Names Database (NNDB): Matthew Shepard
• Matthew Shepard Memorial
• The Laramie Project

October 12th in LGBT History

Born this day

Aleister Crowley ( 1875 –  1947) UK
Author / Mountaineer / Poet

Josephine Hutchinson  ( 1903 –  1998 ) US
Actress

Stathis Orphanos  ( 1940 – )  US
Publisher

Arthur Evans  (1942 –   ) US
Author / Activist

Kristen Bjorn  ( 957 –  )  UK
Porn / Director / Producer

Beate Peters  (1959 –  )  German
Javelin

Brian Kennedy  (1966 –  )  UK
Singer / Author

Michael Sandy  (1977 –  2006) US
Hate Crime Victim

Died this day

Nikolai Zverev   (1832 –  1893 )  Russian
Pianist / Teacher

Ricky Wilson  (1953  –  1985) US
Musician / Singer 

Gary Bond   ( 1940  – 1995 )  UK
Actor Born

Matthew Shepard   ( 1976 –  1998)  US
Hate Crime Victim

Christina Smith   ( ???? – 2005)  US
Murder Victim

Sodomy in history, 

October 12th 

1984 — Congress enacts a law repealing the District of Columbia sexual assault reform law of 1981, that had included a repeal of the District’s sodomy law.
1988 — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals clarifies that only "consensual, heterosexual" activity is constitutionally protected, preventing a more liberal decision of two weeks earlier from becoming precedent. 

Sources:

Wikipedia

glbtq emcyclopedia

On this gay day

Calendar of Sodomy, October

October 9th in LGBT History

Saint's Day:

Vida Dutton Scudder  ( 1861 – 1954 ) Indian / US, American Lesbian Saint for Our Times

Born this day

Harriet Hosmer (1830 – 1908 ) US
Sculptor

Camille Saint-Saens  ( 1835 –  1921 )  French
Composer / Conductor / Musician

Simeon Solomon  ( 1840 – 1905  ) UK
Painter

Mario de Andrade  ( 1893 – 1945 )  Brazilian
Poet / Author / Historian / Critic / Photographer

Stanley Kwan  (1957 –  )  Chinese
Director / Producer

Maddie Blaustein  ( 1960 –  2008 ) US
Actress

James Dreyfus ( 1968 –  )  UK
Actor

Michael Venus  ( 1973 –  ) Canadian
Actor / Artist / Producer

Michael Causer  (1989 –  2008 )  UK
Hate Crime Victim

Died this day

Benjamin Banneker  ( 1731 –  1806) US
Mathematician

Vida Dutton Scudder  ( 1861 – 1954 ) Indian / US
Author and  American Lesbian Saint for Our Times

Aileen Wuornos   ( 1956 – 2002  )  US
Serial Killer

LeRoy Whitfield  ( 1969 –  2005 ) US
Journalist / Activist

Coccinelle  ( 1931 .–  2006 )  French
Actress / Entertainer

Sodomy in history, October 9th 

1706 — English sailor James Ball is sentenced to death for sodomy with a ship boy.

1900 — The Hawaii Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction secured by a non-unanimous jury verdict.

1958 — The Hawaii Supreme Court rules that people of the opposite sex can be prosecuted for sodomy as well as those of the same sex.

1967 — The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the Washington sodomy law, the first challenge based on privacy rights ever to reach it.

1990 — The Maryland Court of Appeals rules that the state’s sodomy and unnatural and perverted practices law are unconstitutional as applied to people of the opposite sex, but constitutional as applied to those of the same sex. The Court misconstrues case law history in the state to justify its ruling.

1998 — The South African Constitutional Court strikes down the country’s sodomy law under the new constitution.

Sources:

Wikipedia

glbtq emcyclopedia

On this gay day

Calendar of Sodomy, October