Matthew Shepard

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19 Get the Presidential Medal of Freedom Today

Biden will honor politicians, activists, athletes, and more

(Newser) - Clarence B. Jones says he thought a prankster was on the line when he answered the phone and heard the caller say they were from the White House. "I said, 'Is this a joke or is this serious?'" Jones recalled. The caller swore that President Biden wanted...

25 Years After His Infamous Killing, Activists Are Worried

LGBTQ community sees progress made after Matthew Shepard murder start to reverse

(Newser) - It's been 25 years since Matthew Shepard , a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, died six days after he was savagely beaten by two young men and tied to a remote fence to meet his fate. His death has been memorialized as an egregious hate crime that helped fuel...

Matthew Shepard's Ashes Interred at National Cathedral

Shepard, a gay man, was killed in 1998

(Newser) - The ashes of Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 killing became a rallying cry for the gay rights movement, have been laid to rest in Washington National Cathedral, the AP reports. More than 2,000 people gathered at the cathedral on Friday to celebrate the life and honor the memory of Shepard,...

Matthew Shepard's Ashes Find Final Resting Place

Will be interred at Washington National Cathedral; he was slain in 1998 for being gay

(Newser) - Twenty years after he was tied to a fence, beaten, and left to die for being gay, Matthew Shepard will be laid to rest in the same cathedral as Hellen Keller and Woodrow Wilson. The ashes of the University of Wyoming student—kept in an urn since his 1998 murder—...

Laramie Passes State's First Gay Protection Measure

Matthew Shepard was murdered in Wyoming town

(Newser) - The Laramie City Council has approved a local anti-discrimination ordinance in the college town where Matthew Shepard's death triggered nationwide sympathy and brought a re-examination of attitudes toward gays 17 years ago. The council voted 7-2 Wednesday night in favor of the measure that prohibits discrimination based on sexual...

Teen, Mom Take Stand Against Bullying

Jake Stallman to win award from Matthew Shepard Foundation

(Newser) - The pills were in his mouth. That's how close Tipton, Iowa teen Jake Stallman came to suicide two years ago, the Des Moines Register reports. In the face of constant bullying—first, because he was overweight, then, once he'd slimmed down, because he was gay—the 15-year-old saw...

Matthew Shepard Parents Moved by '98' Jersey of Gay Player

Jason Collins wore number in honor of their son

(Newser) - As part of his big reveal yesterday, gay NBA player Jason Collins explained that he chose the jersey number 98 to honor Matthew Shepard, the gay college student murdered in 1998. Shepard's parents learned of it the way the rest of the world did, through Sports Illustrated, and they...

Obama: Don't Just Sit There When People Boo a Soldier

President fires away at GOP contenters at gay rights fundraiser

(Newser) - Ah, election season—when politicians remember that they once had guts. President Obama swung hard at GOP presidential hopefuls last night, blasting them for not condemning the crowd that booed a gay soldier at a Republican debate on Sept. 22, reports the Hill . "We don’t believe in the...

Swastika Branders Guilty of Fed Hate Crime

Neo-nazi pair burned, shaved swastika into Navajo

(Newser) - The first men prosecuted under a federal hate crime law have pleaded guilty to carving a swastika into the arm of a Navajo Indian. New Mexican neo-Nazis Paul Beebe and Jesse Sanford admitted using a hot wire to brand the arm of their mentally challenged victim, 22. They also shaved...

Swastika Case First to Use Hate-Crimes Law

NM defendants face 10 years to life for branding Navajo man

(Newser) - Three off-duty McDonald's workers accused of burning a swastika into the skin of a mentally disabled customer with a hot coat hanger will be charged under new hate crimes legislation, the AP reports. Under the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the defendants could face...

Okla. Aims at Gay Protection, Strips Religion, Race Instead

Hate-crimes bill cites wrong statute

(Newser) - New protection for homosexuals in federal hate-crimes laws so irked Oklahoma legislators that the state senate recently passed a measure aimed at allowing local authorities to choose not to share information with the feds on crimes the state doesn’t view as hate crimes—and “sexual orientation or gender...

Hate-Crime Law Marks Fork in Road for Obama
Hate-Crime Law Marks Fork in Road for Obama
ANALYSIS
Oct 28, 2009 8:00 PM CDT

Hate-Crime Law Marks Fork in Road for Obama

Are more equality measures on the way, or is this the token?

(Newser) - President Obama today signed a bill extending hate-crime protection to homosexuals, a victory for equality advocates after more than a decade of pushing for such a law. But, Chris Geidner wonders, will this open the floodgates for more action—eliminating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, for instance—or will...

Senate OKs Bill Giving Gays Hate-Crime Protection

Named for Shepard, it now heads to Obama

(Newser) - Physical attacks on people based on their sexual orientation will join the list of federal hate crimes in a major expansion of the civil rights-era law Congress approved today and sent to President Obama. The measure, on the congressional agenda for a decade, expands current law to include crimes based...

House Bill Adds Hate-Crime Coverage for Gays

Dems secure victory by attaching measure to defense funding measure

(Newser) - The House voted today to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation, significantly expanding the hate-crimes law enacted in the days after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968. With expected passage by the Senate, and President Obama promising to sign the legislation,...

Obama Renews Promises to Dismayed Gay Leaders

President vows to repeal DOMA, open military to all

(Newser) - President Obama turned on the charm at a reception yesterday for gay, lesbian, and transgender activists at the White House, where he tried to dispel worries he was dragging his feet on campaign promises. "I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration" by the...

Perez Claimed Jackson 'Faked' Death Collapse

(Newser) - Perez Hilton screwed up again yesterday when the gossip blogger claimed Michael Jackson's trip to the hospital was a "stunt" like when he collapsed getting ready for his 1995 HBO special. "We are dubious!" Hilton breathlessly posted. He later yanked the post, reports Gawker, who saved it...

Conservative Christians Fight Hate-Crimes Law for Gays

(Newser) - With Congress set to pass strengthened hate crime legislation this summer, Conservative Christian leaders are ratcheting up their opposition to a bill that would extend those protections to gays and lesbians, USA Today reports. Conservative leaders say they’re worried that clergy who preach against homosexuality could end up liable...

NC Rep Calls Shepard Murder a 'Hoax'
NC Rep Calls Shepard Murder a 'Hoax'
Apr 30, 2009 12:57 PM CDT

NC Rep Calls Shepard Murder a 'Hoax'

Republican cops to 'poor choice of words' in House debate

(Newser) - A North Carolina congresswoman is backtracking after saying during a House debate that the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard was a “hoax” used by gay-rights activists, WTVD-TV of Raleigh-Durham reports. Arguing against a new hate-crimes bill, Republican Virginia Foxx said the highly publicized killing of Shepard—whose mother was...

Wyo. Changes Sluggishly Since Shepard Murder

10 years after gay student's murder, authors revisit Laramie

(Newser) - The creators of The Laramie Project have returned to Wyoming to explore the legacy of Matthew Shepard’s murder 10 years later, the New York Times reports. In revisiting the people whose words make up the script, the theater company found that there has been progress —albeit slow.

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