Every once in a while, you hear about something that shocks, disgusts you, and leaves you seething. This act of prejudice had that effect on me. I had heard about it before, but when I learned more, I realized how horrible it was, and yet how much change has come about because of it.

Matthew Shepard was a 21 year old college student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. One of his best friends, Romaine Patterson, said in her book, “There’s a clear distinction between my friend Matt and the Matthew Shepard who became a piece of history. I miss Matt, the kid who couldn’t dance, the kid who smoked too many bowls, the kid who’d sit and chat for hours while I served up espressos in Denver.” Shepard was a guy just like everyone else, except for one thing. And that one thing ultimately cost him his life: he was gay.

On October 6th, 1998, Shepard met Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, both in their early twenties, at a local bar, and left with them. They took him to a remote area outside of Laramie. While shouting anti-gay slurs at him, they beat him severely, tied him to a fence, and left him for dead.

About 18 hours later, Shepard was found. He was unconscious, and never regained consciousness. The doctors were surprised he was even still alive; his brain stem had been crushed and his skull had been indented a few inches. Five days later, he died with his parents by his side.

People all across the country were outraged.  President Bill Clinton asked Congress to expand laws on hate crimes on the federal level by including attacks based on sexual orientation as a hate crime. As he put it, “the nation cannot afford to wait.” President-elect Barack Obama has promised to sign the Matthew Shepard Act, which deals with hate-crimes, after he takes office.

What happened to Matthew Shepard actually helped change some peoples’ views. Dave O’Malley, police chief at the time of the murder, said, “Prior to this case I wasn’t hugely homophobic, but I was mean-spirited. I bought into the jokes and the myths and stereotypes of the gay community. Because of what happened, I was forced to interact with that community. I started losing my ignorance. It didn’t take very long at all for me to realize that I was dead wrong.”

As much outrage as was sparked from the murder, there were also people who supported it. One group of people, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, seemed to be in favor of Matt being killed. Members of this church appeared at the trial of one of Shepard’s murderers, holding signs saying things like, “Matt in Hell,” “God Hates Fags,” and “AIDS Cures Fags”. Romaine Patterson and her friends would not stand for anyone, let alone Shepard’s family, having to see this hateful display. So they made angel costumes, with 7 foot wingspans, so that they could stand in front of Phelps and his followers and block them out.

Both Henderson and McKinney were sentenced to two consecutive life terms of imprisonment. The jury wanted to give McKinney the death penalty, but Matthew Shepard’s mother and her family “chose not to feel the reciprocal emotion of hate” so they found a way to avoid the death penalty.

One of the main causes of any sort of prejudice is ignorance. People are ignorant of the fact that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, GLBT, people are all around them. One report said that about one in ten people are glbt. So look around you. Statistically, there should be about two people who fit into one of those categories in this room alone. But people are ignorant and hateful, causing kids who are gay to stay hidden, which takes away the chance for those ignorant people to learn how everyone is the same. Many people don’t understand others who are different from themselves, and not understanding leads to fear which leads to hate. When someone bases another person on just one fact about them they overlook the fact that the person might be really nice. But they judge and hate before they have a chance to realize that they are just another person.

I think the main thing people have to do to end homophobia is educate themselves. People need to learn that everyone is the same, regardless of whom they are attracted to and stop buying into the stereotypes. One way to do that is to befriend a gay person, and realize how they are no different than you or I. Another thing that can help get rid of the homophobia is to speak up when you hear someone call someone or something gay as an insult. It reinforces peoples’ idea that being gay is a bad thing, when it’s not. Many people think that civil unions and domestic partnerships are equal to marriage. The thing is, separate is never equal. There are 1138 federal benefits that are related to whether you’re married or not, so that means there are 1138 things that are being held from gay couples. Most people, however, don’t know this and are blinded by the lies of others.  

Imagine being kicked out of your house because your parents can’t understand your love. Imagine walking down a hallway, seeing people giggle and stare, just because of who you are. Imagine loving someone so much that you want the whole world to know, yet having to hide it because of the intolerance of those around you. Imagine being beaten to death by two straight men, just because you happen to like people of the same gender. Like we’ve been taught this year, don’t judge someone until you walk in their shoes. Matthew Shepard had the bad luck to be the death it took for the nation to realize how serious the consequences are for overlooking homophobia. Even if you don’t understand or even accept homosexuality, try to play a part in taking the steps needed to stop someone else from sharing the same fate as Matthew Shepard. If you're anti-gay, it might just come down to this: shut your mouth, and save a life.