[MCake]

Hard to believe it's been 11 years already since Matthew Shepard was killed. A teenager at the time, this hate crime was incomprehensible and terrifying to me; it still is. Too exhausted to write much, here's something from Wikipedia:

Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. He was attacked on the night of October 6–7, 1998 and died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12 from severe head injuries.

During the trial, witnesses stated that Shepard was targeted because he was gay.

Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in a bar. McKinney and Henderson offered Shepard a ride in their car. Subsequently, Shepard was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence in a remote, rural area, and left to die (...) Still tied to the fence, Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow. At the time of discovery, Shepard was still alive, but in a coma.

Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. As he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.

He was pronounced dead at 12:53 A.M. on October 12, 1998.

Recent article: Mother's mission: Matthew Shepard's death changes things (Oct 3rd, 2008)

"I knew Matthew was gay since he was 8," Judy said. "I'm not sure I know why I knew, but I just knew."
(...)
She's grown more angry with the years.

"In the beginning I was more emotional (speaking) about my family," she said. "Then I became more political, more strident. I'm angry that people are willfully ignorant. They know gay issues are out there. This is a civil rights issue. We should all be angry."

Though her son's death sparked a movement, a big part of Judy Shepard's message is that he was hardly a saint.

"People call him a martyr, but I take exception to that," she said. "I've tried very hard to keep him real. It's unfair to make him larger than life. He had foibles. He made mistakes. He was not a perfect child by any means.

(...)

When Matthew finally told his mother during a middle-of-the-night phone call at age 18, she replied, " 'What took you so long?' I told him we loved him, and we were there to support him, and that it made no difference in our family relationships. I told him to stay safe and watch out for his surroundings."

She accepts that Matthew failed to heed her warnings to always practice safe sex. "He didn't really do that," she conceded. After Matthew's death, the family found among his papers the results of his most recent HIV test - a test he had taken every six months.

The July test was negative, his mother said. But a test taken as he lay dying revealed he had just recently turned HIV positive.

"We don't think he knew," she said.

(...)
Matthew's body was cremated. The family planned to scatter his ashes, but could never decide where.

Judy Shepard hesitated.

"Actually - don't print this - well, I guess its OK to print," she said. "Matt's in a bank in a safety deposit box. We think he's very happy there. He had a wonderful sense of humor. I think he would find it most amusing, actually, that he was in a bank."

Never forget