14 Years Ago, This Man Was Killed For Being Gay

[Playinghardball]

Matthew Shepard’s story shocked our nation, and it paved the way for some new laws and heightened awareness of anti-gay hate crimes and bullying; we still have a long way to go.

Found on MatthShepardFDN’s YouTube channel/MoveOn.org

[hrmjustin]

1. I was one of the 10,000 people who took to the streets here in NYC when he died.

That was such a horrible story. Many people came out of the closet because of that story. Attitudes began to really change because of it. May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

[Kalidurga]

2. I was horrified by this crime.

The way I found out about it was shocking and disgusted me to my core. I was surfing the web and there was a link to this story that was accompanied by pictures of Fred Phelps and his crew. I probably don't have to describe the hate filled signs they were holding up or what I saw when I followed the link to his site, I don't know why I went there. It made an impression to say the least. I am usually pretty bad with names, but years later I could recall this name in conversation about hate filled bigots. Turns out his name was pretty well known, no one said Fred who? He was despised by everyone who I talked with when his name came up, even conservative leaning people I talked to. I guess that is some kind of progress, when even a lot of conservatives hate this kind of bigotry.

[nuxvomica]

3. The complete "The Laramie Project"

Living you life freely should not be the ultimate act of courage.
RIP, Matthew. We will never forget you.