Matthew Wayne Shepard, December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998

nudeyorker

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There was a story on CNN with his parents, It's as heart breaking now as It was then. My heart and thoughts go out to them and anyone who has lost a child under any circumstance.
 

Meniscus

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My gods, has it really been 10 years already? It seems like just a couple of years ago. I still remember the news reports on TV, the candelight vigils that followed, the debate about enacting hate crime laws (which is still ongoing), and all the promises to never let something like that happen again (not that they did any good).

The older I get the more I realize how short life is, and the more acutely sensitive I become to just how much is lost when a life is cut short. But a short life is still worth something. It is better for Matthew Shepard to have lived a short life--bringing joy to family, friends, lovers--than for him to have never lived at all.
 

simcha

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I hope he's not forgotten.

He won't be forgotten as long as I'm alive. It was an absolutely gruesome murder, gruesome. And the story pissed me off so much.

And in other news Proposition 8 is ahead in the polls. It's the proposition in California that will eliminate the right to marry for same sex couples. That is sad. :mad:
 

1BiGG1

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One of the sick fucks got two life terms without the possibility of parole, the other got two life terms with the possibility of parole when neither should ever walk the streets again. I hope they suffer what’s beyond comprehension for the rest of their lives both physically and mentally.

I also hope the sick scum from the Westboro Baptist Church that protested at his funeral and filed for permits to build a 5-6’ tall marble monument in Cheyenne & Casper with his picture and the words: “Matthew Shepard entered hell October 12, 1998 in defiance of god’s warning: Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womenkind: it is an abomination, Leviticus 18:22” meet a similar fate (this is the same group the protests at fallen soldiers funerals around the country btw).

If somebody took the law into their own hands and eradicated the members from that horrific Christian cult I would call them a hero, not a criminal.
 

Smartalk

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No parent is prepared or expects to see their children to leave this life before them. I have friends this has happend to, there life has never been the same since, so so sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who have suffered such a loss.
 

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It's not right that gay men should be attacked for being themselves. Because we are homosexual doesn't mean we are not normal. I wish people would understand that and then we wouldn't have unfortunate deaths like Matthew's.

My love is with Matthew's family and i hope the sick bastard who did this gets what he deserves... and then some!

J

xx
 

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Whether it's a shit song or not it's still there to show that people are thinking about him. Besides that may be their favorite song or his! At least people are thinking of him.
 

Northland

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Stairway to Heaven is a stupid song and the boy deserves better than to have somebody use THAT piece of crap to commemorate him.

Whether it's a shit song or not it's still there to show that people are thinking about him. Besides that may be their favorite song or his! At least people are thinking of him.

I was. That's why I started this thread.
You may have been thinking of Matthew when you first opened the topic; however, through your comments about a song-one which, as rwolfera indicates may have been one of his favorites-you have greatly diminished the alleged (by you) focus which this thread perhaps could have had. Hopefully it can still be redeemed. Let's try to remember this young man without adding more versions of hatred such as:
Stairway to Heaven is a stupid song and the boy deserves better than to have somebody use THAT piece of crap to commemorate him.
You can dislike the song all you want, call it crap and stupid in another place all you want-why do it here, in a place which you want to be a positive remebrance of someone?


Matthew's Place: Matthew's Place - A Program of the Matthew Shephard Foundation
 

B_Lightkeeper

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Several years ago there was a gay guy in Sylacauga, Alabama who befriended two guys at a neighborhood tavern. Several days later they found his chared, burned body in a stack of burned discarded tires near an off-the-road lake.
They two were caught, arrested and were sentenced. I actually had sorta forgotten this incident until I read the recent post about Matthew.

I bet they are both out now but will try and find out more info and post.
 

1BiGG1

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Several years ago there was a gay guy in Sylacauga, Alabama who befriended two guys at a neighborhood tavern. Several days later they found his chared, burned body in a stack of burned discarded tires near an off-the-road lake.
They two were caught, arrested and were sentenced. I actually had sorta forgotten this incident until I read the recent post about Matthew.

I bet they are both out now but will try and find out more info and post.

Here is the story ...

CNN - Suspect in gay killing called skinhead 'wannabe' - March 5, 1999

Washingtonpost.com: 2 Accused of Killing, Burning Gay Man
 

Principessa

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You may have been thinking of Matthew when you first opened the topic; however, through your comments about a song-one which, as rwolfera indicates may have been one of his favorites-you have greatly diminished the alleged (by you) focus which this thread perhaps could have had. Hopefully it can still be redeemed. Let's try to remember this young man without adding more versions of hatred such as:You can dislike the song all you want, call it crap and stupid in another place all you want-why do it here, in a place which you want to be a positive remebrance of someone?
Thank you, that was very well stated and appears to have gotten us back on track.:cool:
 

D_Bob_Crotchitch

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It's sad when anyone is attacked for being themselves. One of the saddest things is that Matthew Shepherd knew the crank addict that beat him to death. It was a robbery for crank money. Unfortunately, Matthew Shepherd said I'll tell. The guy turned and beat him to death. The other one said he deserved to be in jail for life because he didn't stop it.
What's really sad is that when Matthew Shepherd was on a high school trip to Morraco, men in the hotel grabbed him, forced him into something like a store room, and brutally gang raped him. That has to be why Matthew Shepherd started doing drugs himself. Nobody in Morraco was every charged for that crime. What an injustice?
I never will forget the piece 20/20 did on all of it, and all the people who said they knew each other, and that Matthew Shepherd's killer was bi.
Trust me, they'll make his life such hell in prison, he'll wish he was dead.