Matthew Sheppard, Harvey Milk and Why I Came Out

I was eleven and struggling with the fact I knew I liked guys a lot more than chicks when Matthew Sheppard, an openly gay man going to school at the University of Wyoming, was pistol-whipped and left for dead, tied to a barbed-wire fence, outside of Laramie. The attack happened on the night of October 7th, 1998. He was found sometime in the morning by a cyclist. His skull was cracked from his brain stem to his right ear. It was so bad that he couldn't be operated on, and he died on October 12, 1998, back home in Fort Collins Colorado.

It's too complicated to explain fully. I knew people got beat up for being gay. Bigotry is something you have to face. But, being killed? I remember crying quietly by myself. Wondering why someone would do that, if the same thing would happen to me. It was probably February of 1999 that I came out. I vowed to never hide. And what happened to me after I came out just solidified my resolve. I will always fight.

When I think about it today, I still get misty-eyed and pissed off. I guess it's similar to how people feel about Harvey Milk. I wasn't alive when he was assassinated, but I am familiar with what happened. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay Supervisor of the City of San Francisco. He replaced Dan White as City Supervisor. Dan White ate a bunch of Twinkies, loaded his revolved, snuck into city hall, plead for his job with then-mayor Moscone, shot him, reloaded, and killed Milk in his (their) [old] office. There was a huge march and candle light vigil that night. Dan White plead "diminished capacities" due to "depression" and got off with manslaughter, sparking the White Night Riots.


Stop Hate Public Service Announcement by Judy Sheppard
Sponsored by GLSEN

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Hillary Clinton on the Matthew Shepard Act (officially, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007), HR 1592.

Okay... this bill was supposed to update the old hate crimes act of 1969 to include sexual orientation and other enhancements for people already protected by the bill. The bill passed both the house and the senate (where it was attached to a defense bill [hooah!]) Unfortunately, President G. Bush Jr. threatened to Veto the bill if it ever hit his desk. So, it's stuck for the moment. Nancy Pelosi (our current Speaker of the House) has promised to make it work somehow. This clip shows Hillary Clinton in the senate judiciary hearing on HR1592.

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And, because I'm interested in these things, here is a link where you can find information on the May 17, 2007 House hearing.


NBC NEWS November 27, 1978 George Moscone & Harvey Milk Dead

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Footage of the White Night Riots

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