1. Matthew Shepard
Murdered for being gay

3. On 6th October 1998, Matthew accepted a ride home from two men after being at a nightclub.

4. The two men drove Matthew out into the countryside

5. They proceeded to rob Matthew, pistol-whip him, torture him and tie him to a fence.

6. They knew Matthew was gay and had lured him to the countryside in order to hurt him.

8. The two men then drove away, leaving Matthew alone to die.

10. Matthew was unconscious and tied to the fence for 18 hours until he was found the next morning.

11. A cyclist found him and at first thought he was a scarecrow, until he saw the blood.

12. Matthew’s face was completely covered in blood…

13. …except for two clear lines from his eyes where his tears had washed the blood away

15. Matthew suffered numerous head injuries and his face was beaten beyond recognition.

16. Matthew was taken to hospital, where he stayed until he was taken off life support.

17. He was 21 years old.

19. Matthew had his whole life ahead of him
Matthew had his whole life ahead of him. It was cruelly snatched away when he was murdered because he was gay.

21. People came to leave flowers at the scene of the crime.

23. There was national outcry and grief in the United States.
Many people were demanding a harsher sentence for gay hate crimes.

24. Matthew’s parents got the choice to spare the two men the death penalty. They wanted the ordeal to end in peace.
Not with more death.

26. During the trial, protesters were holding signs saying that God hated Matthew and that he was going to hell.

30. Many of Matthew’s friends decided to dress as angels and used their large wings to cover the protesters.

33. They used earplugs to block out the sound of the protestors.

34. They looked up at the sky.
At Matthew.

36. Matthew’s parents, although devastated by the ordeal, used their son’s death to push for equality for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community.

38. Dennis and Judy Shepard continue to be strong advocates for LGBT rights and encourage parents to be proud of their LGBT sons/daughters.

40. “I refuse to forget. I refuse to be quiet”

41. Nobody should be hurt emotionally or physically or killed because of their sexual orientation.

43. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard Act which includes crimes against people for their sexuality as hate crimes.

44. A similar law now exists in the UK.

45. LGBT rights have come a long way since Matthew died
LGBT rights have come a long way since Matthew died. But we still see and hear hate every day

46. This is still happening

47. By calling someone or something ‘gay’, you suggest that being gay is a bad thing.

48. This is the kind of attitude that led to Matthew being murdered.

49. The men that killed Matthew grew up hearing the word ‘gay’ used negatively.

50. They grew up full of hatred towards gay people, because of the attitudes they were exposed to.

51. They believed that killing Matthew was the right thing to do, that he deserved it… for being gay

52. Hate crimes against LGBT people are now in the same category as hate crimes against people of other races and religions.

53. Calling someone gay or making negative remarks about someone’s sexuality is as wrong as making a racist remark.

54. Would you refer to something as being ‘so black’ or ‘so Jewish’?

55. Probably not.
So don’t refer to it as being ‘so gay’.

56. If you hear homophobic comments; challenge them and report them.
It’s time we changed attitudes.

59. Together we can stamp out homophobia.