December Icon - Matthew Shepard 1976-1998

Ricky Martin

Ricky Martin born 24 December 1971

After years of rumour and speculation intrenational Latin pop superstar Ricky Martin issued a statement confirming that he was a homosexual and happy to be so on 29 March 2010. Full profile to follow.

Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard born 1 December 1976 (d. 1998)

Matthew Wayne Shepard was an American student at the University of Wyoming.

Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in a bar. According to McKinney, Shepard asked them for a ride home. Subsequently, Matthew was robbed, severely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die. McKinney and Henderson also found out his address, intending to burglarise his home. Shepard was discovered by a cyclist 18 hours later, still alive but unconscious. At first he mistakenly thought that Matthew's broken body was a scarecrow.

Matthew Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain damage. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. He had been beaten with a handgun. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Matthew never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. He was pronounced dead at 12:53 a.m. on October 12 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins.

Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun as well as the victim's shoes and wallet in their truck. The two men had attempted to get their girlfriends to provide alibis.

After the attack, the prosecutor told reporters that Shepard's friends had been vocal about Matthew Shepard's sexuality: 'They were calling the County Attorney's office, they were calling the media and indicating Matthew Shepard is gay and we don't want the fact that he is gay to go unnoticed.'

During court cases both of the defendants used varying stories to defend their actions. They attempted to use the 'gay panic defence', arguing that they were driven to temporary insanity by Shepard's alleged sexual advances toward them. At another point they stated that they had only wanted to rob him and never intended to kill him.

The prosecutor in the case charged that McKinney and Henderson pretended to be gay in order to gain Matthew's trust to rob him. During the trial, Chastity Pasley and Kristen Price (the pair's then-girlfriends) testified under oath that Henderson and McKinney both plotted beforehand to rob a gay man. McKinney and Henderson then went to the Fireside Lounge, a gay hangout, and selected Matthew as their target. After befriending him, they took him to a remote area of Laramie where they robbed him, viciously beat him and left him for dead.

Henderson and McKinney were not charged with a hate crime - laws at the time did not support such a charge. Many people think the case should have been dealt with as a hate crime, particularly those who believe that Matthew Shepard was targeted on the basis of his sexual orientation. Attempts were made made to change the law subsequently for years without success.

The convicted murderers are currently serving two life sentences without parole in Wyoming State Penitentiary.

The homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard - and the inability of the law to recognise the attack as a hate crime has made him a modern gay martyr and come to symbolise the inhumane, brutal and discriminatory treatment faced by gay people. Several films and a play have been made about the events of that night and artists as diverse as Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper, Trivium and others have written and dedicated songs to Matthew Shepard. A foundation has been set up in his name, and his parents Judy and Dennis have dedicated their lives to gay rights and campaigning for tolerance.

In 2009, after years of campaigning and controversy, the Matthew Shepard Act was passesd into law as an amendment to US hate crimes legislation.


Matthew Shepard Foundation