This column was originally written and published on October 12, 2011. I will re-publish it every year on October 12
Twenty three years ago today, Matthew Shepard died because he was gay. Matthew was taken from this world by Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson who had offered to give him a ride home from Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. But they didn’t take Matthew home. Aaron and Russel drove to remote rural area where they tied Matthew to a fence, pistol whipped him; tortured him; tormented him for God knows how long. When they were done expressing their hate for who he was, they left him there to die.
He was found in a coma the next day. Matthew Shepard died from severe head trauma, 6 days late on October 12, 1998. Mckinney and Henderson were both found guilty of first degree murder. Matthew Shepard’s family did not want anyone else to die from this tragic story so THEY convinced the presiding judge to sentence the two murderers to life in prison.
During Matthew’s funeral, Fred Phelps and his band of haters from the Westboro Baptist Church showed up with signs that read: “NO TEARS FOR QUEERS,” and “Fag Matt in Hell.”
Matthew’s family founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation which “seeks to “Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance.”
“Scarecrow”
Showers of your crimson blood
Seep into a nation calling up a flood
Of narrow minds who legislate
Thinly veiled intolerance
Bigotry and hate
But they tortured and burned you
They beat you and they tied you
They left you cold and breathing
For love they crucified you
I can’t forget hard as I try
This silhouette against the sky
Scarecrow crying
Waiting to die wondering why
Scarecrow trying
Angels will hold carry your soul away
This was our brother
This was our son
This shepherd young and mild
This unassuming one
We all gasp this can’t happen here
We’re all much too civilized
Where can these monsters hide
But they are knocking on our front door
They’re rocking in our cradles
They’re preaching in our churches
And eating at our tables
I search my soul
My heart and in my mind
To try and find forgiveness
This is someone child
With pain unreconciled
Filled up with father’s hate
Mother’s neglect
I can forgive But I will not forget
Scarecrow crying
Waiting to die wondering why
Scarecrow trying
Rising above all in the name of love
Tent of Abraham 
More than 8 years ago — ABC did an expose
that PROVED that Matthew Sheppard was
killed as a result of ‘a drug deal gone bad’ —
and his murder was NOT due to homophobia.
(One of his killers was an ex-lover of his.)
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1
abcnews DOT go DOT com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1
Matthew Sheppard was NOT killed due to his being gay
— he was killed due to his being a campus drug dealer.
Well thanks JaneTheCommentator for straightening us all out. The whole world was under the miss-impression that in keeping with their testimony, the two accused of murdering Matthew were homophobes. Now that you’ve cleared that up, we can all rest assured that there are no such thing as gay bullying; no such thing as right wing conservatives who are intolerant of the rights of gay people; no such thing as right-wing Christians who think that gay people are all diabolic-consciousness lying about their sexual preference.
It’s so sad that Fox Noise has now made it now appropriate for assholes like you to just twist the truth to be whatever serves your political and religious agenda. I can’t believe you too the time to suggest that the victim of one of the most horrendous murders in American history was really a drug user. Shame on you and your simple mind that can’t take responsibility for you hate, bigotry, simplicity and intolerance.
Reblogged this on Tent of Abraham and commented:
20 years after Matthew’s tragic death, there is so much more work to be done! Homophobia is real, destructive and flourishing.