Exploring Issues of Civic Responsibility with Judy Shepard

This evening I had the privilege and honor of meeting Judy Shepard. Judy is the mother of Matthew Shepard, the young gay man whom was brutally beaten, tied to a fence post, and left to die nearly 11 years ago in Laramie Wyoming. Following Matt's brutal death the Shepard family created the Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor Matthew in a manner that was appropriate to his dreams, beliefs and aspirations. The Foundation seeks to "Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance" through its varied educational, outreach and advocacy programs and by continuing to tell Matthew's story.

This evening the Foundation partnered with Facing History and Ourselves, along with the Allstate Foundation. The topic of tonight's forum was Community Conversations: Exploring issues of Civic Responsibility. I've had the opportunity to hear Judy speak once before, but tonight was different. The program began with a role play of interviews recently conducted in Laramie by the same people that created The Laramie Project. Following this play, Judy went in to her speech as she normally does, by reading the Victim Impact Statement she read at the sentencing of the two men that savagely beat Matt to death. After speaking for some time about Matthew, his life, and the issues GLBT Americans are currently facing in the nation of "Equality" she opened the discussion up to the audience and took questions. The most compelling of the questions asked dealt with Judy's personal views of religion and hate groups that claim to be loving Christians.

At the end of Community Conversations I was excited to learn that Judy Shepard would be signing copies of her recently released book The Meaning of Matthew: M Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. In less than a year the book has become a New York Times best-seller. I attribute this to the fact that the book is a moving, intimate look at how Judy's life, and the entire fight for equal rights, changed when Matthew was killed.

For nearly eleven years the Shepard family has worked tirelessly throughout the nation to educate people on the violence that took place the evening Matthew was killed, and the impact such a crime intends to instill in the GLBT community. Just over ten years after Matthew was killed Judy was present, at the White House, when President Obama signed in to law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of crimes that can be investigated and prosecuted as hate crimes in all of the United States. To Judy, and the entire Shepard family, this is the beginning of many more steps the country has to take before true equality is achieved, in what they view as the last civil rights issue facing America.

To Judy, Dennis, Logan, and all of the extended Shepard family I wish to thank you for your enduring love for humanity, the sacrifice and heartache you endure every time you step in front of a crowd, and the positive change you are bringing to a nation in need.