This Friday marks 20 years since Matthew Shepard died from brutal injuries after a homophobic hate crime that horrified the world. The hate didn’t end there; Shepard’s funeral saw protests from the Westboro Baptist Church, whose congregation carried signs reading “Matt in Hell” and “God Hates Fags” as Shepard’s grieving parents entered the service.
Matthew Shepard’s body was never buried, because his parents feared his grave would be desecrated after ugly homophobic protests followed from his funeral to the trial of his killers. But on October 26, Shepard will finally be laid to rest — honored with interment at the Washington National Cathedral alongside other American historical figures like President Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, and numerous heads of state.
“We’ve given much thought to Matt’s final resting place, and we found the Washington National Cathedral is an ideal choice, as Matt loved the Episcopal church and felt welcomed by his church in Wyoming,” said Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mother, in a press statement Thursday. “For the past 20 years, we have shared Matt’s story with the world. It’s reassuring to know he now will rest in a sacred spot where folks can come to reflect on creating a safer, kinder world.”
Rev. Gene Robinson, who made headlines himself upon becoming the first openly gay priest to be consecrated as a bishop in 2003, will conduct the burial service alongside Washington’s bishop, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde. The Washington National Cathedral, a national monument that dates back to 1907, lists LGBT advocacy among its core outreach missions — stating on its website that “the Cathedral considers LGBT equality the great civil rights issue of church in the 21st century.”
Memorial events for Shepard are being held all week, marking the stretch of time between the day Shepard was discovered by a cyclist who saw his body tied to a fence, and the date he died in a hospital six days later.
On October 6, 1998, Shepard — then an openly gay student at the University of Wyoming — accepted a ride home from a bar from two men. He never made it back. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were convicted of brutally beating Shepard until his brain stem was irreparably damaged, tying him to a remote fence, and leaving him to die. Shepard passed away in a hospital on October 12 after a period in a coma, his grieving parents at his bedside.
Shepard’s murder became the most prominent example of both anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes and of the “gay panic” defense often used in court; McKinney’s lawyers said that he had intended merely to rob Shepard, but had flown into a rage after Shepard allegedly hit on him. The murder horrified the nation and the world, and became a symbol of the violent toll homophobia can take.
It’s been 20 years since Matthew Shepard was killed, and it took his parents 11 years of nonstop activism to finally get the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act signed into law in 2009. The current U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, was one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation when he was still a senator, arguing at length on the senate floor that LGBTQ+ Americans did not deserve “special rights.”
Hate crime reports have risen since the very day Trump took office, which research groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center say are linked to the president’s incendiary rhetoric against Muslims and other groups, and his large white supremacist following. Hate crimes motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ animus are also on the rise, which the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has linked to a parallel increase in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policy, as well as Trump’s stacking the federal government with explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ officials.
Shepard’s death and the 20-year period of grief and struggle endured by his family resonates with Americans who fear a step backward in our nation’s civility. That’s why this week is packed with memorial events: tomorrow’s vigil on the University of Wyoming campus, last Sunday’s “Considering Matthew Shepard” musical tribute in Colorado, participation in the viral Heart/Fence Challenge project, and performance runs of The Laramie Project — a play based on the events of Shepard’s death — all over the country.
But most importantly, a young man who not only lost his life due to homophobia and hatred, but his right to a peaceful burial, will finally be put to rest.
“Matthew Shepard’s death is an enduring tragedy affecting all people,” said Dean of Washington National Cathedral Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith in a statement Thursday, “and should serve as an ongoing call to the nation to reject anti-LGBTQ bigotry and instead embrace each of our neighbors for who they are.”
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