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Matthew Shepard Research Paper

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How will people who are in the LGBTQ+ ever feel safe, when they keep being discriminated? Matthew Shepard was an early-twenties college man, who was sweet, kind, outgoing, and caring. But he was also gay. This affected the way people looked at Matthew. Some with disgust, and some with open heartedness. But for a Matthew Shepard, it was his final day, he was looked upon with disgust. This lead to his murder.The Matthew Shepard Act is an American Act of Congress, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010. This was created as a driving force to stop Hate Crimes against the LGBT Community. The people in America were all over the place …show more content…

The men responsible for his death were Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. 11 years ago, Matthew Shepard was just in his early twenties in college, when two men tragically ended his life, simply because he was gay. Our so we thought. It was stated by a man that maybe, just maybe, without the added drug combination, this poor man would still be alive today. Jimenez from The Guardian that stated in his book The Book Of Matt that “I believe to this day that McKinney and Henderson were trying to find Matthew’s house so they could steal his drugs. It was fairly well known in the Laramie community that McKinney wouldn’t be one that was striking out of a sense of homophobia. Some of the officers I worked with had caught him in a sexual act with another man, so it didn’t fit – none of that made any sense.” Many people were upset about with the fact that his murder was not called a hate crime, but I believe that Aaron was on meth, and Henderson was just an accomplice who in fact, was there with McKinney, but did not lay a finger on Shepard, nor did he try to stop the crime that was being committed. Therefore, in my opinion and in Jimenez’ opinion, the information that was given us about it being a ¨Hate Crime¨ …show more content…

It made people of the homosexual community scared of being victimized. “I think a lot of gay people, when they first heard of that horrifying event, felt sort of punched in the stomach. I mean it kind of encapsulated all our fears of being victimized," said writer Andrew Sullivan, a prominent gay rights advocate. These people have every right to be scared, because the truth is that even though we put 2 allegedly biased people in jail there is still more people like them out there. Think of the way the people of the LGBTQ+ felt after hearing about this so called “Hate Crime.” They were furious. The killing was a scary time for friends and family. Knowing that someone they cared for was dead. It made many people who were not of the LGBTQ+ association angry. A Biography had stated that “Despite the anti-gay rhetoric spouted by McKinney and Henderson throughout the trials that ultimately led to their life sentences for Shepard’s murder, they were not charged with a hate crime. As a result, Shepard’s high-profile murder case sparked protests, vigils and calls for federal legislation to protect LGBT victims of

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520 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning, McKinney and Henderson were arrested and charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. However, after Shepard’s death, the charges were amended from attempted murder to murder in the first degree. Later on November 10th, a preliminary hearing was held for McKinney and Henderson and a full trial was set to begin on October 11th, which was ironically one day before the anniversary of Matthew’s death. Then on April 5, 1999, Henderson reached a pre-trial agreement and pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping in which he received two consecutive life sentences. He also agreed to testify against McKinney in order to avoid the death

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935 Words | 4 Pages

Human beings are reactive in nature. Throughout history, this fact had both aided and hurt us. Matthew Shepard was a case in which this tendency hurt us. On the night of October 6th, 1998, Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, brutally beaten, and robbed, tied to a fence and left to die. Once Matthew Shepard was murdered for being gay, the town of Laramie reacted, mostly with love and support.

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676 Words | 3 Pages

1. The Lawrence v. Texas Supreme court case of 2003 was a landmark event for the LGBT community and gave them their constitutional right to pursue same gender consensual sexual activity without the fear of state intrusion. Before the decision of the court, sodomy laws were applicable in Texas which criminalized sexual activities between people of same gender. With the passing of this judgment, there was renewed vigour of exuberance among the lgbt community and for a very good reason. The case was brought to the notice of the police who raided a residence on gun related charges and found two males engaged in consensual sex.

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773 Words | 4 Pages

The sentiment towards same-sex relationships is mixed in Laramie, and these views shape each resident’s interpretation and reaction to the incident. Pro-LGBT people in the community hold the firm belief that Shepard’s murder was a hate crime motivated by his sexuality. However, many more townspeople vehemently denied any homophobic motivation in the crime, stating that the sole motivation for the crime was to rob Shepard. These feelings are influenced by the political climate of Wyoming at the time. 1998 was years before the legalization of same-sex marriage in America, and Wyoming is a particularly conservative state, as evident by the statement given by governor Jim Geringer when confronted by his lack of hate crime legislation.

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703 Words | 3 Pages

This led to the church becoming angry with men and women that were gay or lesbian so they wanted to express their opinions. When a soldier died in the line of duty they had their chance knowing the strict military policy of homosexuals. The group decided to then go on and show up at the funeral of Matthew Snyder and protest expressing their opinions of how gays are evil. Society did not like this because they believed it was a time for mourning, not an opportunity and even though you have freedom of speech does not mean you have to say anything. It was a very low blow to the family and others it was believed to be just outright wrong and evil don't say anything if you have nothing nice to say.

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1222 Words | 5 Pages

The most obvious reason is that McKinney is allegedly bi-sexual. In Jimenez’s 20/20, he focuses on the outside factors that contributed to this heinous act of violence, rather than the Laramie Project, which only talks to friends/family who immediately assume and believe McKinney and Henderson hate homosexuals. Doc O’Connor is being interviewed about McKinney’s Sexuality, and says “"I know of an instance where he had a three-way, two guys and one gal," and he proves this is true by saying “ He did it with me”(20/20). This shows that McKinney was not homophobic, but in fact enjoyed the company of men, which disproves his “gay panic” defense.

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891 Words | 4 Pages

Loffreda's essay title "Losing Matt Shepard" itself speaks great volumes. Her emphasis on "Losing" perhaps shows us a great amount of sorrow felt in the "loss" of Matt. Furthermore, in regard to her emphasis on "losing" she quite clearly shows us how we are losing to value life, which is why these hate crimes occur. Matt had not done any crime, his only crime was being gay. A crime which itself isn't even a crime.

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545 Words | 3 Pages

“A group of people decided they’d had enough. They took a stand and in doing so began the New York Gay Activist movement. Which eventually spread to other parts of the country…. I very much doubt they know the impact of their decision to stand firm that day in 1969, but it’s because of those people that gay rights exist in this country today,” Lynley Wayne, LGBT Writer. Everyday people are trying to stand up for themselves.

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851 Words | 4 Pages

On October 7, 1998, another hate crime occurred. Matthew Shepard, an openly gay student in Laramie, Wyoming, was beaten, tied to a fence, and later dies from his severe injuries. This hate crime and another one, committed against James Byrd, Jr., ended up establishing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of

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877 Words | 4 Pages

The film’s moral message is about hate crime against the gay community is wrong. But it doesn’t only show that message, the film is also trying to encourage gay people to come out and not be afraid of being what they are and also educate those who do not understand what being gay means. For example, one interview in particular was about a man who slowly came out to be gay. He never came out because he would feel as if people would bash him in disgust. But he changed his opinion and and came out to being gay when he witnessed a group of people giving respects to Matt Shepard by walking behind a parade.

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1053 Words | 5 Pages

His passion for equality and travel led him to studying political science, foreign relations and language at the University of Wyoming. Matthew strived to help as many people as possible, and his passion to become more educated stemmed from this. Matthew’s studies and desires quickly halted to a stop on one October evening in Laramie, Wyoming. Two men lured Matthew into their truck, at the time Matthew was unaware that this event would soon have him begging for his life. Later that evening, the“21-year-old gay college student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead [by the two anti-gay men])”

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624 Words | 3 Pages

The people of Laramie, Wyoming have many different opinions about homosexuality. Many people do not care about whether someone is gay or not while others believe it is morally wrong. Some people strongly believe that the straight people or Laramie and Wyoming are also to blame for this tragedy just as the Germans were to blame for the Holocaust. Whether one cares or not the murder of Matthew Shepard was a tragic event that sparked outrage for equal rights for the LGBT+ community and everyone who supported

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1822 Words | 8 Pages

Furthermore doctors and psychologist at the time believed that gays were mentally and or physically sick and needed treatment. Less than a year later the AMA made it so the world would know that their accusations were

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261 Words | 2 Pages

On the other hand, Loffreda notices the problem that is practically neglected by the media and the public, which the LGBT people’s position in the community are rather hard and the problem of hate and intolerance towards minorities are not yet solved. From the university president Phil Dubois, “nothing could match the sorrow and revulsion we feel for this attack on Matt. It is almost as sad, however, to see individuals and groups around the country react to this event by stereotyping an entire community, if not an entire state” (Loffreda, 244). The media is categorizing everyone in Laramie as the same, full of hate and prejudice, not because they are just generalizing the problem, but they want to feel superior and tries to show that they have more progressive mindset compared to the citizens in Laramie.

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576 Words | 3 Pages

According to the Mattachine Society, “in the case of the homosexual, it would seem that law had little or no effect on his activities.” This organization along with other organizations found support from prominent sociologists and psychologists. Homosexuals faced many issues in regard to law enforcement. Therefore, this organization sat down with legislators, law enforcement officers, judges and others in the legal field to work out an objective program to meet the legal problems affecting homosexuality and to constructively administer to the causes and not the symptoms of the problems (burns, pg. 286). Throughout the 50s and 60s gays and lesbians continued to be at risk for law enforcement and work conflicts as they were defined as sick, criminal, or

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