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| quote: | Originally posted by xTranceGurlx
fag |
That word.
Do you know what that word brings to my mind?
A young man. 21. Tied to a fence in Wyoming.
His face caked in blood. And tears. And fear. And pain.
Never to awaken again.
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Funeral for gay hate-crime victim brutally murdered.
Friday October 16, 1998
The funeral has taken place in the United States of Matthew Shepard, a 21 year-old student, who was savagely beaten to death because he was gay. Friends and family gathered in pouring rain at the church in the town of Casper, Wyoming, where he was baptised.
Matthew had been lured from a campus bar shortly after midnight on October 7 by two men who told him they were gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills neighbourhood east of Laramie, tied to a split-rail fence, tortured, beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, while he begged for his life; he was then left for dead in near freezing temperatures. A cyclist who found him on Snowy Mountain View Road at 6:22 pm, some 18 hours after the attack, at first mistook him for a scarecrow. He was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. His face was caked with blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by tears.
Matthew died at 12:53 am on Monday 12th October 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his family at his bedside. Hospital officials said Matthew had a fracture from behind his head to just in front of his right ear and a massive brain stem injury which affected his vital signs, including his heart beat, body temperature and other involuntary functions. There were also approximately a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. He was so badly injured in the attack that doctors were unable to operate. He never regained consciousness after being found, and remained on full life support.
While Matthew lay dying in hospital, just a few miles away, a group of students from Colorado State University thought it would be funny to ride atop a homecoming float that featured a scarecrow figure designed to resemble Matthew's battered body. The figure was wearing a sign that said "I'm gay." An obscene message was painted across the back of the scarecrow's shirt. The students didn't mean to be insensitive. It was supposed to be a joke. They were just ordinary, average guys, having a bit of fun.
Matthew was born Dec. 1, 1976, in Casper, and was the oldest son of Judy Peck Shepard and Dennis Shepard. While living in Casper, he attended Crest Hill Grade School, Dean Morgan Junior High, and completed his sophomore year in Natrona County High School. He was a member and an acolyte in St. Mark's Episcopal Church.
He attended the last two years of high school at the American School in Switzerland, where he graduated in 1995. After graduation from high school, he attended Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.,and Casper College. He then moved to Denver, where he had several jobs. He was a first- year political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie at the time of his death.
He enjoyed the theatre and had parts in several Casper College and Stage III Theater plays. He liked soccer, swimming, running, camping, hunting, fishing and snow skiing; as well as dancing and theatre.
Matthew was gentle of demeanour and passionate about human rights and foreign relations. Friends described him as a small man - 5-foot-2, 110 pounds - with a big heart. "He would do anything for anybody". |
Since he died, I've NEVER used that word to disparage another human being. Gay people deserve to have the same rights as everyone else; equality under the law. They don't deserve to be hung as a battered human effigy on a fence.
On a happy note, my opinion of Americans in general has been elevated...
I'm sitting here, in shocked glee. Oh me. Oh gee.
http://www.afa.net/
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oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and "civil unions" 32.71%
(226674 votes)
I favor legalization of homosexual marriage: 59.22%
(410460 votes)
I favor a "civil union" with the full benefits of marriage except for the name: 8.07%
(55930 votes)
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Those oh so tolerant "Christians," have apparently seen the light.
Bush's election "wedge issue" perhaps now doesn't exist. In fact, I can't wait until they report these results to Congress. If the AFA were to back down on their claim, it would show the kind of people they really are. I knew Americans were better than that. I've always had hope and faith in the American people, and I wish I could hug all those who voted against bigotry, against hate.
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http://www.discoboomer.com/forums/
Last edited by DaveSZ on Dec-30-2003 at 11:21
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