Today Marks 20th Anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s Death

By Talbert Toole
Lifestyles Editor
talbert.toole@hottytoddy.com

On Oct. 6, 1998, Shepard, who was a freshman at the University of Wyoming, was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Photo courtesy of matthewshepard.org.

Friday Oct. 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the death of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard—a young man whose death caused nationwide concern for the lives of those who identify as LGBTQ+ and the hate crimes they face. Shepard would later become a symbol for violence against gays.

On Oct. 6, 1998, Shepard, who was a freshman at the University of Wyoming, was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Six days later on Oct. 12, Shepard passed away in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The death of the young student became national news, and his tragic death would later would be adapted into a play—The Laramie Project—which was performed by the Ole Miss Theatre department exactly five years ago in the fall of 2013.

Portraying one of the characters in the production was Ole Miss alumnus Garrison Gibbons, who now resides in New York City.

Garrison Gibbons and cast peform ‘The Laramie Project’ in Fulton Chapel, fall of 2013. Photo by Phillip Waller, courtesy of Ole Miss Theatre Department.

Gibbons said he naively thought of the story as a historical piece that would educate the audience on LGBTQ history and show how far society had come since the Shepard’s death.

During one of the performances of the play, Ole Miss football players allegedly ridiculed the cast members and the message of the play from the audience.

“I learned through the heckling and living the life as an LGBTQIA person since [then],” Gibbons said. “The sad truth is we still have so far to go.”

As the only openly LGBTQ+ cast member of the production, Gibbons said he felt it was his duty to speak out about the experience regarding the play and his experience as a queer person in Mississippi.

Following the experience Gibbons and his fellow cast members faced during the performance, he said he began to speak more about LGBTQ+ issues and concerns on the Ole Miss campus and in the South at large.

“I became activate on LGBTQIA issues because of Matthew’s story,” he said.

The incident at the Ole Miss performance caught national headlines and sparked conversation regarding hate crimes—specifically crimes against queer individuals.

In 1998, Shepard’s family created the Matthew Shepard Foundation— an organization that “empowers individuals to embrace human dignity and diversity through outreach, advocacy and resource programs.”

In 2009, the Shepard family joined with President Barack Obama as he signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The law expanded the prior federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the foundation’s website.

In 2017 there were 52 hate violence-related homicides against LGBTQ+ individuals, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. 

“Violence against the LGBTQ community is a serious, ongoing issue especially for transwomen and people of color,” said Kevin Cozart, operations coordinator for the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies.

The anniversary of Shepard’s death also coincides with LGBTQ History Month. Cozart said celebration of the month should help society remember that, while progress has been made, that progress is fragile.

“A lot more work needs to be done to achieve full inclusion for members of the LGBTQ community,” he said.

Shepard’s ashes have still not been laid to rest twenty years after his death, according to the New York Times. However, his ashes will be interred into the Washington National Cathedral on Oct. 26 for his final resting place.

For more information on the Matthew Shepard Foundation, visit the organization’s website.