Matthew Shepard

Please, the filthy little faggot deserved it.

Killed for being “queer.” 😢

What was the Vargas issue? I forgot about that. I forgot about her. Is she still a "journalist"?

Vargas was never as beautiful as some people claimed and now she's an old hag, no comeback on her horizon.

I remember this incident making me so sad, but later as I learned more about the case I became more conflicted.

Please elaborate, r5

I already did at r1.

Last summer there was this.

R9 = deplorable

All of that was true and then some, r9! ANYTHING, but that it was simply another gay-bashing murder. Mathew was EVIL and is burning in hell

[quote] Elizabitch V. getting the vapors

Get your own schtick lady!

Not long after, an area fraternity entered a float in a parade that had an effigy of Matthew tied to a fence. Future Trump voters.

There was no story. Some unnamed cop and whispers in a town that was embarrassed to be known for this. The author of the essentially unsourced book was the original producer on R1 s shitty piece. He tried dine out on it twice.

There's been a lot of "revisionist history" , primarily from the convicted killers well after the trial and their incarceration, no doubt to scrub their images in advance of release.

Vargas and others in the media (including a few gay writers with a more conservative bent) jumped on this new narrative, with the disclaimer that "it doesn't mean he deserved what happened to him". But the way the "revised story" was presented, you can easily imagine people thinking "well, he kinda asked for it."

While I'm sure Shepherd wasn't a saint - no one is- I never bought the revisionist history either. It was too self-serving on the part of the killers.

And there are clearly those out there (and on DL) who are offended by a gay martyr and must tear him down.

Beautiful boy tortured and killed for being gay.

I was a young mother of a newborn son when this happened. I don't think I've ever been so affected by a news story in my life, not even Columbine. That poor poor boy.

We've all seen enough deplorable bullshit in the last few years to know that any mudslinging of his name is just more evil fuckery from bigots.

Fuck anyone defending what happened to him or saying he deserved any of it. You're a shitstain on humanity.

It’s worth a read, RIP Matthew.

God must have needed another angel

The author of the above article at R18 also wrote one called "Why I hate men". I'm thinking she thinks Matthew Shepard got attention that should go to abused woman

I remember when I first heard about it. In SF for work and someone was handing out flyers with the news. I stopped and cried on Folsom Street as they just started to set up a memorial with pictures and candles and flowers.

R20 - I know you said that in jest - but I’ve often wondered: why does God need another angel?

I mean - what does he do with them all?

Does he put them to some sort of angel work? Is he bored and likes a fresh new face to talk to at dinner? I mean - he’s all seeing and all knowing and all powerful - so what could any provincial earthbound soul bring to the table exactly? I’m unable to fathom it...

Sorry R18, I meant the article at R19. The author Julie Bindel also thinks gay people choose to be gay. F-her

A woman would not get much sympathy if she got in a car with two unknown men she met at a bar. Gay men need to be smarter about their safety.

A woman would get plenty of sympathy if she was horribly beaten and abandoned to die whether she got in the car or not. Don’t blame the victim.

Seems simple to me, Was meth or any other drug found in his system?

Sounds like a lot of he said, she said and non facts.

She was a good girl. May she RIP.

Many of my well-intentioned fellow liberal social media pals have quickly launched from Kavanaugh teeth-gnashing to Matthew's "Death-iversary," which isn't until next Friday. What will they wail about next?

Everything's horrible. Post pictures of funny cats.

[quote] I mean - what does he do with them all? Does he put them to some sort of angel work? Is he bored and likes a fresh new face to talk to at dinner? I mean - he’s all seeing and all knowing and all powerful - so what could any provincial earthbound soul bring to the table exactly? I’m unable to fathom it...

That saying is just some made up stuff that people say when they don't know what else to say. The Bible is very clear that humans are not angels. They are separate classes of creation.

Tragic events occur because we live in a fallen world with a demonic being running loose and many people do not know enough or care enough about the spiritual realm to stop it.

I read the Guardian article. Nothing in it makes me think it wasn't a horrific crime or that Shepard "asked for it" for being involved with drugs and knowing one of the offenders.

Really hard to believe it's been 20 years.

Even if he was on drugs it wouldn't be any wonder. He was beaten up and raped during a trip to Morocco his senior year, and became depressed and suicidal as a result. People who are addicts almost always become them due to some traumatic event or a rough life in general.

Personally, I don't see what good it will do now to change the public narrative anyway. What good will it do? All it will do is make people sympathize with the killers and help build their public images, but they're in prison and are going to stay there. Murder is murder and still very much illegal no matter what the reason. If all this is true, they should have said so at the trial. I hope they're not changing their stories around to get lighter sentences.

I am just not sure what these authors and journalists are hoping to gain by bringing all that up and making all those accusations now.

R18 go back to Facebook. Seriously, you don't belong here. this is a gay site for gay men, not dried up fraus like yourself.

I know it's inconvenient but if you don't acknowledge the truth of a matter - any matter - you do know who you sound like?

Pretending Matthew Shepard was something he was not undercuts credibility. Acknowledging the complexities of his story in my view enriches the discussion around so many issues that are doing harm to so many people. His story before his tragic murder is also worth leveraging to make change.

R35, Aww, but she seemed so nice. I think you're being a little harsh. I know you probably don't particularly give a damn what I think, though.

R9 is right. R10, you’re deplorable. Living life with your stinky fingers in your ears.

Still a tragic case but much more complex or simple than the media will let us believe. It happened at a moment when we needed a tragedy to galvanize the gay community and this worked.

R16, you’re complicit in letting delusional fools make flat out wrong statements like R17’s.

Like some people who erroneously focus on race instead of class issues, some find it easier and more palatable to focus on the gay martyr lie than the gay addict truth. We should have talked about drugs and the violence they foster. But no, gay martyr.

Marry me, R36.

Go and fuck yourself R35.

So is this, R19.

"The Book of Matt" was nothing more than a smear campaign against a man who's not around to defend himself.

I don't care if he was a walking STD that licked toilet seats for a living and grabbed the balls of every straight man in town, he didn't deserve to be murdered.

I'm sure he was not perfect. None of us are, and few of us are fully evolved into our best selves at 21. But that still doesn't mean the festering cuntscabs on this site need to come for him.

Do we speak up for fact or is just how we feel about fact all that matters anymore?

More, R19.

I agree with R40.

R43, But in some cases we don't really know what fact is, do we? You weren't there, were you? So how can you say conclusively it was a drug deal gone wrong? The only people who know for sure what happened to Matthew that night are Matthew himself and the two killers. Needless to say, Matthew is dead and the killers change their story as much as most people change their shirts.

First they planned to rob Matthew and take everything he had because he was small, weak, and looked like an easy target. But then he made a pass at one of them and touched their leg so they killed him in a fit of homophobic rage. Then it turns out it had absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality. It was a drug deal gone wrong and one of them actually fooled around with Matthew at one point. Well, which is it? It depends who you ask it seems.

Personally, I am inclined to believe the "hate crime" version of events. I don't trust people who change their stories, especially if the change makes them look better.

[quote]But in some cases we don't really know what fact is, do we? You weren't there, were you? So how can you say conclusively it was a drug deal gone wrong?

Oh for Christ's sake. I wasn't there when Lincoln was shot either but I have a pretty good idea of the facts. Jesus.

I was exactly the same age as Matthew Shepard - my own name is even similar to his - and my life at the time had many similarities to his life. I cannot even tell you how this affected me. I was shaken up for a long time.

What “facts” do you know about the Shepard case, R47?

A gay man murdered in Wyoming 20 years ago = hate crime

They killed him over a dope deal and tried the gay panic defense thinking it would play in Wyoming.

R51, that’s impossible for anyone to know with certitude, & it’s also contrary to Occam's Razor.

Why are you so invested in the vicious murder of a gay guy in Wyoming not being a “hate crime”....? Why is it a big deal to you?

Sometimes myths are better left alone because there is universal truth in them.

You are projecting, R52

And you clearly don’t understand the razor of you think one druggie killing another is more likely a hate crime than a dope deal gone bad...

The amount of sadism and sheer brutality of the murder precludes it being a drug deal gone wrong.

This wasn't a Columbian drug cartel trying to warn off another gang you apologist muppets, this was the work of generations of redneck inbred sister fucking mouth breathers coming to fruition.

R47 = Stephen Jimenez

Agree with R40. FF’d R35.

I think that Jimenez is posting here.

I feel like Jimenez is posting here.

The murderers told police they intentionally spoke “effeminately” to Matt after they clocked him for being gay & hatched a plan to first isolate & then rob him.

Matt thought they were gay...because they mislead him to believe such.

It’s in the recordings of the interrogations. Listen for yourself.

They repeatedly referred to Matt as a faggot & QUEER

Dehumanizing slurs make it easier to kill someone.

I refuse to allow other people decide for me that “queer” is an acceptable term for gays.

RIP, Matt.

[quote]Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, spent Oct. 6, 1998, at a meeting of the school's LGBTQ student group planning upcoming events for LGBTQ awareness week,

Was it called the "LGBTQ student group" then, or "LGBTQ awareness week"?

Of course it wasn't, we all know that.

Was the T and Q even added to LGB back then?

Good post, R60.

It seems like people will lie about anything these days to further their own hateful views. Repeating a lie doesn't make it true.

Yes let have your “facts” R51

Why is there so much push to posthumously smear Matthew Shepard now?

Is it because the 20th anniversary of his death might remind people that homosexuals are still struggling uphill? Even today with all the protections and advances we’re still third class citizens.

R66 We are not allowed to state facts anymore, that gay men are still being discriminated against and are victims of hate crimes because of their sexuality. In this day and age we are only allowed to talk about trans women of color being murdered. Even our own community is against us now. Remember when NUS said gay men are not allowed protection because they are not oppressed? Fucking bs.

NUS is not "our community," r67.

NUS?

[quote]NUS?

New Ugly Stock.

R69 Yes.

National Union of Students

Or

National University of Singapore?

Speakers at Thursday's candlelight vigil told those in attendance that the fight continues for equal rights and treatment for the LGBTQ community, especially transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

The world is a different place than it was when Shepard was killed, said Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who will carry his ashes and preside over Friday's service.

"But the kind of hatred and violence that killed Matthew Shephard is alive and well and living in this country," Robinson told CNN affiliate WJLA.

"We've grown more likely to label some people 'other' and treat them horribly. ... Every good person I know needs to stand up and say that's not who we are," Robinson said.

Several speakers drew attention to the plight of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, who are protected under the hate crimes act, but have lost other protections under the Trump administration.

With the din of traffic humming in the background, one speaker read aloud the names of 28 transgender people killed in 2018.

"Today, we can change our gender marker on our IDs but we can lose our lives on the streets of these cities simply by someone finding out that we are transgender," another speaker said.

A recent New York Times report of an administration proposal to exclude transgender people from anti-discrimination laws stoked fears of more losses. Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, called on the gay community to stand with transgender people in their fight for legal protections from discrimination.

"We can't just say the 'T' at the other end of the initials and not do the hard work of getting to know them and love them and then stand with them," he said.

R75 Surprised? The Ts always make everything about them. Can't let the gays have anything, not even Stonewall.

R23 Angels suck cock the best. God loves his cock sucked.

Vargas report was covered at the time of release and then mentioned again when NOW and other women's groiups protested her demotion. It was terrible reporting and one reason why not to watch ABC.

There was enough coverage in MSM prior the show airing to convince any reasonable person to not watch the show. In 2004 if the only gay man you can get to go on record is Andrew Sullivan - that's reason enough to question the reporting.

No way in hell do I click on links to the The Guardian or PInkNews.

This pisses me off frankly.

I do not wish harm on trans people, especially not the genuine body dismorphic people just trying to make the best of their lives.

But when you have unchecked trans activists bringing weapons meant for beating and chopping to LGBT spaces to threaten gay people and then reference a gay man who was BEATEN to death? That makes me sick.