Matthew Shepard Essays

Matthew Wayne “Matt” Shepard was an openly gay student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die in a field on the evening of October 6, 1998. After spending five days in a comma, Matthew Shepard died on October 12, 1998 at 12:53 a.m. in which the cause of death was caused by the massive injuries and head trauma he sustained during a robbery and hate crime assault. Due to the nature of the crime, Shepard’s death quickly became the center of international and political

Matthew Shepard was a 21 years old who identified as gay and was brutally attacked by two men who tied him to a fence and hit him until leaving him unconscious. He was found after 18 hours of being there and died 5 days later. James Byrd Jr., was an African American male who was tied to the back of a truck by two white supremacists who dragged him and eventually he was decapitated. By that time, either of this cases were prosecuted by the justice because the 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Law didn’t cover

to a fence, and was left there to die. This event sparked a significant movement throughout the world which was followed after the death of Matthew Shepard. Everyone around the world wondered if this act of murder was instigated by hatred towards homosexuals. There were also the antagonist of the event that believed that it was justifiable that Matthew Shepard was murdered.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a hate crime is a crime motivated by hostility towards a group of people. This is the kind of crime involved in the situation of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Before we look into what the crime was and how crimes like it are prevented, let’s look at who these two men were. Matthew Shepard was born December 1, 1976 in Casper Wyoming. He lived in Casper until 11th grade, when he moved to Saudi Arabia. In his Senior year, he decided to take a trip with some

Matthew Shepard was the victim in one of the worst hate-crime murders in history. On the night of October 6, 1998, an openly gay man was viciously beaten. Matthew Shepard was a twenty-one-year-old openly gay man. Matthew hadn’t come out until after high school. He was a freshman at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. He had a troubled past. Matthew had gone to Morocco, South Africa with three of his classmates. One night he couldn’t sleep so he decided to go to a nearby coffeehouse, where

The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman is a play that captures the sentiment in Laramie, Wyoming following the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, at the hands of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The play incorporates real-life interviews and testimonies from Laramie residents performed by the actors and actresses. By using the verbatim quotes from people involved with the incident and its aftermath, Kaufman grounds the play in reality and prevents fictional elements from undercutting

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. The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman depicts the story of Matthew Shepard's murder, and the struggle to overcome hatred versus homosexuals

Mckinney On October 7, 1998 a man by the name of Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die in Laramie Wyoming. His perpetrators, AAron Mckinney and Russell Henderson, have been caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Since then Matthew has become the face of hope and has helped shape the platform for gay rights in the LGBTQ community. This is to testify what, how, and why this happened to Matthew Shepard. Is it rightfully labeled a hate crime, or was this

about the violence that was committed, but by tacking on the fact that he disagrees with the lifestyle, she devalues the life of Matthew Shepard. If she felt that obliged to make sure the reader knows that he disagrees with the lifestyle, then we know that in actuality, she can’t be that outraged about his death. 2. “I am...sickened by the...crime committed on Matthew Shepard….[however] I would...urge… against…[giving] one group special rights” (52). In this quote, the governor is expressing

conduct interviews about Matthew Shepard horrible death. The problem is that these people all go into Laramie assuming this murder was a hate crime, therefore they are very biased in the way the assume Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson killed Shepard because he was gay. By doing this they stayed away from the problems that Shepard had, such as prostitution and Methamphetamine. Later, Jimenez goes and conducts interviews as-well, but he doesn’t shy away from the truth. Shepard was not murdered because

group of people travel to Laramie, Wyoming to conduct interviews about Matthew Shepard’s horrendous death. These people go into Laramie with the pre-determined notion that it was motivated by Shepards sexual orientation., therefore they are very biased in this way. The media immediatly jumped on this case and made it a hate crime, and ignored all other evidence in the case. By doing this they stayed away from the problems that Shepard had, such as prostitution and Methamphetamine. Later, Stephen Jimenez

the murder of Matthew Shepard. The article from The New York Times, Gay Man Dies From Attack, Fanning Outrage and Debate, by James Brooke, is specifically dedicated to conveying the news from an unbiased viewpoint. There are definitive differences found in both writing pieces that arguably make the play more effective at serving it’s purpose than the news article. The play, The Laramie Project, was a two year process that started immediately following the death of Matthew Shepard. The idea for

this quote helps explain that Matthew was beaten badly and it was not just with their fist but also with a pistol as well. Another helpful quote is “ Our focus is to turn to Laramie, Wyoming and the Albany county courthouse, where Aaron James McKinney and Russell Arther Henderson are being charged for the brutal beating of Matthew Shepard, a gay university of Wyoming student. (Kaufman 49) This quote states that two people who are responsible for the attack on Matthew

On the night of October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, robbed, brutally beaten, and tied to a fence left to die by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The book takes place in the drive-through town of Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. The members of the Tectonic Theater Project investigate and conduct over two hundred interviews in order to get more first-hand information about the murder. The author uses literary elements to discuss political and social issues when interviewing Jedadiah Schultz

The play is obviously about the geographical community of Laramie. It was obviously inspired by the death of Matthew Shepard. But did the piece address an inequality? Did it facilitate the healing of a community? To both of these questions, I think yes. Matthew Shepard was likely killed due to his sexuality which shed light upon an inequality in the community: homophobia. Not only so, but the play attempts to show characters in an unbiased

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

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

ordinary homosexuals. A great representation of this is a boy named, Matthew Shepard. He was gay and defenseless because popular belief deemed him unfit to be able to act the way his brain was hardwired. A mockingbird is someone or something who has a desire to do only good, but is harmed illegitimately. Matthew resembles a mockingbird because of his illegitimate killing and the vulnerability he faced due to his unpopular beliefs. Matthew was an intelligent and passionate young man. In high school, he

In the play The Laramie Project, the most compelling moment that I’ve found in the book was the moment “Dennis Shepard” because this moment was the final statement that was given before Aaron would’ve received the death penalty. In this moment, Kaufman is trying to make the argument that by adding in the voice of Dennis Shepard in giving the last statement before the court decides what do with Aaron, this choice is very effective because his statement basically summarizes how he and his family feels

Loffreda, Beth. 2000. Losing Matt Shepard. New York, New York: Columbia University Press. The murder of Matt Shepard, and the reason for it, will be remembered. The book, Losing Matt Shepard focuses on the murder of Matt Shepard and some of the effects and events surrounding it. The book was written by Beth Loffreda. Beth Loffreda has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the University of Virginia and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from Rutgers University. Loffreda now works as the Associate