“In the first hour of Oct. 7, 1988, as the wind chill dipped into the 20s and clear skies allowed the stars to break through the darkness— this much remained true. Most of the world had never heard of Matt Shepard. And he was alone.”
So begins a four-page saga of the life, death and times of Matthew Shepard, which appeared in the Fall 2018 copy of “Teaching Tolerance,” a publication of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The narrative continues.
“The detail most often cited to underscore the brutality of what he’d been through is the blood… his face was covered in it, his skin visible only in the tracks left by his tears.”
We have reached the 20th anniversary of Shepard’s brutal slaying by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson.
The sole reason for this heinous crime was that Shepard was gay. The two perpetrators offered Shepard a ride home, beat him mercilessly, and tied him to a fence shortly after midnight.
What has transpired in the two decades that have passed since this horrific crime? The assailants, McKinney and Henderson, were each sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. Sen. Ted Kennedy introduced a Hate Crimes bill which specifically included crimes based on sexual orientation.
Eight years later, Congress passed the Shepard-Byrd hate crime bill expanded upon the above-mentioned law and in 2009, Barrack Obama signed it. “The Laramie Project,” a play about the incident, opened in Denver, and a documentary film, “Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine,” won an Emmy award.
On the other hand, reporting of hate crimes to the FBI is totally inadequate. Violence still looms over the lives of LGBTQ children. One in ten of them will be sexually assaulted or raped.
These are not good times for those who are sexually different or for women. We have a Supreme Court nominee accused by three women of sexual assault. We have a president similarly accused by 19 women.
In both cases, there are denials and the statement by Trump that “no one has more respect for women than I do.” Read the accusations against the president. They include unwanted kissing, groping, commenting on women’s underwear and genitals, and sticking his hand up skirts.
Connecting the dots between the treatment of gays and Kavanaugh’s and Trump’s behavior may seem like a stretch to some, but there is a tone set by the president. When he lies and sexually assaults, this gives “carte blanche” to others to do the same.
The idea that there is a culture of hatred, racism and misogyny emanating from the White House does not augur well for comity and civility in our government. In short, the tone is set at the top. Barrack Obama knew this when he said: “When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter what they are, or whom the love, we are all more free.”
Dr. Hal Sobel
Great Neck
