Losing Matt Shepard Analysis

Beth Loffreda, author of “Losing Matt Shepard,” accentuates the bewilderment that raged through America following the death of Matt Shepard. Matthew Shepard was a twenty-one year old, University of Laramie student in Wyoming when his life was ripped from him. Shepard, described as a small barely over a hundred pound young man, “In dramatic and widely reported testimony, Fluty [ the biker who found Shepard] would later state that at first she thought Matt would have been no older than thirteen, he was so small( Matt was only five feet two inches, barely over one hundred pounds),” ( Loffreda 371) was out alone on a Tuesday night when he picked up Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The two men led him to their car and drove to the edge of

Loffreda follows the reaction of the media and people in the community as they pounced at the scene, gathering any information possible. America was for the first time mourning and acknowledging together the death someone who was homosexual. In a way, everyone needed to know what happened; they were desperate to understand the savageness of the crime. Wyoming had become a civil rights ground, it didn’t matter that the case wasn’t labeled as a hate crime, thousands wanted their rights and pain heard; Matt Shepard’s case just happened to be the stepping stone. It is said that something as small as a flutter of a butterfly 's wing can cause a tsunami half across the world; much like the butterflies wing human bitterness can cause the same destruction. Our hatred and selfishness for one another threatens to destroy our fundamental morals and dignity. For centuries discrimination and abuse due to ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation wrecked our world as dehumanizing crimes, later classified as hate crimes, increased. Although, as our central government solidified and bills were introduced to control such acts our views were further

Loffreda quotes Walt Bolden, a friend of Matt, who refused to lose a friend in vein and called upon legislature’s to consider the threat that now seemed so apparent: “Boulden [...] legislature’s failure to pass a hate crimes bill: he told reporters that “they said nothing like that happens in Wyoming because someone is gay, but we’ve always known someone would have to get killed or beaten before they finally listened. I just can’t believe it happened to someone I care about.’” (371) The problem with society isn’t the overwhelming number of loathe toward one another, but the lack of consideration and empathy. Loffreda’s essay not only draws awareness to the LGBT community, but also emphasizes the amount of support they are gaining. Everdeen Mason, author of “The dramatic rise in state efforts to limit LGBT rights,” draws to light that although the LGBT community have gained support they are still facing discrimination, “ While the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community has become more visible [...] state lawmakers have increased attempts to pass legislation that could restrict civil rights for LGBT people. Since 2013, legislatures have introduced 254 bills, 20 of which became law.” From same-sex marriage to the bathroom bill the LGBT community fought, and continue to fight, to achieve equality. Equaity, a