Matthew Shepard
1 December 1976 - 12 October 1998
Penguin Dust is blacked out today in the memory of Matthew Shepard, who was brutally killed in 1998 because he was gay. He died 12 October 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, after clinging to life for six days. He was beaten, pistol-whipped, tortured, strung up on a fence and left to die -- all because the wrong people found out he was gay and inflicted their own twisted form of justice for the "crime" of loving the wrong people.
I am gay. When I heard about Matthew's beating and death last October, I was literally nauseated for days. I have never in my life been so angry and upset and pissed off at an event in the news. I never knew Matthew, but it didn't matter. He could have been my little brother; my brother is almost exactly a year older than Matthew. He could have been your classmate, your son, your best friend, your nephew.
I am gay. I have gay friends. Some of my gay friends have gotten beaten up, discriminated against and generally put down just for being gay. It does happen, even in the 90's. In a supposedly enlightened society such as ours, a crime like this should never happen. But it did, and people around the world woke up to what homophobia does to people.
I am gay. This could have happened to me or any of my gay or bisexual friends. It could have happened to any of your friends. Homophobia and hatred hurt people. Think about it next time you hear a faggot joke. It's not funny any more.
Penguin Dust will be back shortly. Until then, please visit In Remembrance of Matthew Shepard and send up a prayer to whatever god you believe in for Matthew's family and the victims of hate crimes everywhere. Thanks.
-- marcie.
