Sad Anniversary - Remembering Matthew Shepard

[clmiles]

As posted around LJ today:

"1 out of every 10 people are born Gay. That means 1 of every 10 people are instantly put down, given bad labels, left alone, put in a minority and so much more, all for something they didn't ask for. Gay teens are turning to suicide as a way of escaping. If you want to tell them that life will get better, & you respect them for who they are, copy & paste this. Most of you won't, but let's see the 5% of you who will."

Twelve years ago, Matthew Shepard was murdered for being homosexual.

Click to to read Matthew's story

Rest in Peace, Matthew Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998)

Comments

[kellys-muse.livejournal.com]

His story really hit home, even before I had kids of my own. Makes me sad, beautiful boy. It just blows my mind that such a hateful crime happened not decades ago but recently.

[clmiles.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we really haven't come all that far since the hate crime against Matthew. It's very sad indeed.

[kellys-muse.livejournal.com]

We haven't, it seems painful slow this change.

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

That's really sad. I saw a lot of people on facebook using that as their status post yesterday. I've not read his story, though - your link takes one straight to the main page of your ankaree journal.

[clmiles.livejournal.com]

It breaks my heart when I read about things like this happening. I've fixed the link to Matthew's story if you want to take a read.

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

That was shocking, and saddening, and made me ashamed of our species as a whole. I grew up in a culture where gay-bashing was a regular Saturday evening entertainment for young men, almost like a rite of passage; it sickened me then, and at times I despair of our future when I read that these things are still happening. Because it hasn't stopped with Matthew's death - it will take at least another generation to pass before it's acceptable to be gay, or to be different from the homogenous "normal" in any way whatsoever.