City officials are investigating Mr. Carson’s murder as a hate crime due to eyewitness reports of his assailant using homophobic language in the moments leading up to the terrifying shooting in the heart of one of America’s most iconic gay neighborhoods.

It is especially sad that this horrific crime took place just blocks from the Stonewall Inn, one of the world’s most enduring symbols of the struggle for LGBT equality.

All of us at the Matthew Shepard Foundation share in the community’s outrage over this crime and join with all who send Mr. Carson’s family and loved ones our heartfelt condolences. We wish them strength and comfort in the days ahead.

We also wish to thank the New York City Police Department for their swift response and ongoing investigation, and for their longstanding commitment to improving public safety for not only the LGBT community but for the public as a whole.

We hope continued attention to this and other recent barbaric attacks on gay men in Manhattan yield fast results that return a sense of personal security to all New Yorkers who embody the city’s remarkable diversity.
-Judy Shepard

More on Marc’s attack from Out.

We at the Foundation’s office wondered: what does Matthew’s story mean to our many supporters? So we asked our friends on Facebook when they first heard about Matthew. The overwhelming number of responses we received ranged from the initial news reports of Matthew’s attack in 1998 to as recent as a few days ago.

Many first heard of Matthew when they acted in or saw The Laramie Project or heard Randi Driscoll’s song “What Matters.” A number of students wrote papers on hate and came across Matt’s story in their research. A few even talked about how hearing this story changed their lives – so we asked them how that change happened.

“It changed me from a homophobe to a fierce ally,” Donna H. told us. “It’s not something I like to admit, but I will do it here because I think it’s important. When I heard about what happened to Matthew I was appalled, and I knew right then and there that I wanted nothing to do with that kind of hatred.”

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to the ongoing problems of hatred and legal and social discrimination that LGBT people are still combating.

To mark this day we are asking each and every one of you to tell the story of Matthew’s life and death to someone who doesn’t know it. Tell a friend, coworker or family member Matt’s story and why it is important to you. Let them know that crimes like this continue to happen in our own communities all the time, or tell them why you support our work. Share with them Matthew’s story on our website while you talk to them.

We are inviting everyone that shares Matthew’s story to tell us what that experience was like for them. You can tell us on Facebook or Twitter or use our contact form.

For the month of May BMP Shirts is donating 25% of the price of each of their anti-bullying shirts to our work to Erase Hate. We wanted to share with you a note about why they are supporting us and what Matt’s story means to them.

Matthew Shepard and countless others have been victims of violence and bullying.  Fifteen years after his death, we are still dealing with the same issues of acceptance and equality.  Bullying for being gay or different is now more prevalent than ever – inside schools and even outside in the advent of cyber-bullying.

We’ve always thought about victims of bullying who have ended their own lives or at the hands of someone else.  We started to wonder, would things be different if someone who was on the verge of suicide had these words with them?

•             I won’t be bullied
•             I won’t be judged
•             I won’t be silent
•             I am not ashamed
•             I am strong
•             I am PROUD to be me

These sentences almost immediately came to mind and played over and over again, like a prayer.

Originally called, “Self-Affirmation”, we changed the title of this print to the more aptly named, “Anti-Bullying”.  This powerful design is a personal deterrent against bullying and violence of all kinds.  It is our hope that our contribution to this cause can help put an end to such tragedies.

For the month of May, BMP T-Shirts will contribute 25% of all sales of our Anti-Bullying t-shirt to The Matthew Shepard Foundation. 

Thank you so much and we are honored to help The Matthew Shepard Foundation in their efforts to erase hate.

Sincerely,
Diane and Kathy
BMP T-Shirts.com

by Sam Gardner for Fox Sports

In his historic coming-out essay Monday, NBA veteran Jason Collins revealed to Sports Illustrated that he wore the number 98 in 38 games this season while playing for the Boston Celtics andWashington Wizards as an unspoken “sign of solidarity” with the gay community.

He said he did so as a nod to the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide prevention foundation founded in August 1998, and also in memory of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student who was killed in October 1998 in one of the most infamous antigay hate crimes in history.

Shepard’s parents, Dennis and Judy, had never spoken to or met Collins before receiving an email from David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign with a link to the SI piece Monday morning, but it doesn’t make Collins’ expression of unity any less meaningful.

“It made me cry,” Judy Shepard told FOXSports.com during an interview Monday afternoon. “It was really quite a tribute, and I was very honored. And I know Matt would be thrilled.”

And the Shepards hope, someday, to be able to thank Collins personally for his bravery in opening himself up to the world and honoring their son’s name in the process.

“I would really love to speak to him, because I know Judy and I would just like to thank him,” Dennis Shepard said. “Because, No. 1, he had the courage to come out, period, and No. 2 that he wore 98 in honor of Matt, the year that he died.

“(Collins) couldn’t have been that old (when it happened), so it must have had a tremendous impact on him, the story behind Matt, for him to want to do that. And then to wear it all this time without telling people why until today, that’s incredible.”

For the Shepard family, who started the Matthew Shepard Foundation on Dec. 1, 1998 — what would have been Matthew’s 22nd birthday — as a way to promote awareness and positive change with respect to the gay community, progress is vital regardless of where it comes.

In 2009, it came in the form of the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which effectively classified anti-gay crimes as hate crimes.

“It’s a whole different world now from when we first started doing this,” Judy Shepard said. “It’s remarkable in the big picture how fast things have changed, especially since Obama became president. It’s just moved right along at light speed, and it’s really been quite remarkable.”

But to see that motion toward change come in the world of sports, an arena that’s somewhat lacking when it comes to gay rights, was particularly meaningful.

“Hopefully this will start the conversation saying there’s no difference, as long as my team wins, who cares if they’re straight or gay?” Dennis Shepard said. “There have been a lot of athletes that played and were gay, and I have a feeling their teammates knew it and they just didn’t care.”

Added Judy Shepard: “It’s always more challenging in team sports to have the courage to (come out), and I think that once the doors open, the floodgates will literally open. And not just in pro sports, but college and all down the line. It’s just a remarkable step forward.”

That’s a feeling shared by Abbe Land, the executive director and CEO of the Trevor Project, which has fielded more than 200,000 lifeline calls since its inception nearly 15 years ago, including more than 35,000 last year alone.

“(Collins’ coming out) shows young people that they can be basketball players or hockey players or football players, and that he was willing to do that and say he’s going to be who he is when he plays ball is very important,” Land said. “I think it really helps a young person kind of know that they are perfect just the way they are and they can achieve all of their goals and dreams.”

In addition to the 24-hour phone hotline, the Trevor Project also has its own social network, TrevorSpace, which has more than 50,000 active members. So to have a backer like Collins making LGBT youth more aware of their service is immensely important.

“If (Collins) hasn’t reached out to us, we will reach out to him,” Land said. “It’s great when we have folks who have high visibility who support the Trevor Project, because for a lot of young people, these are role models. So for him to say, ‘Here’s a place you can call if you need help,’ is great. … We still have a lot of work to do, but letting young people know that it’s OK to ask for help, that it’s OK to reach out, is very important.”

The goal, of course, for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the Trevor Project and other organizations like them, is to get to a point where being gay is no longer viewed as controversial and to have the LGBT community be universally accepted. And though it won’t solve the problem altogether, having someone as visible as Jason Collins join that crusade is vitally important.

“You’re starting to see the general flow, that everybody’s realizing that there’s no difference between the straight community and the gay community,” Dennis Shepard said. “It’s just who they love, and for the rest of it, they’re out there, they have a mortgage to pay, they have kids in school, they want to have an ordinary life, retire and then die of old age with a smile on their face, just like everybody else.

“I just hope (Collins’ essay) furthers the cause, not so much for our foundation, but for the population in general, so we can get off this ride of having to worry about being the first, and these stories about who’s going to come out first. Who cares? The only first I want to know is Abbott and Costello.”

Rather than spending money on gifts, Natalie’s friends and family made contributions to the Foundation so we could all celebrate her 40th birthday together. You can support Natalie’s campaign here.

We are cheering on Simon as he runs the San Francisco Marathon to support the Foundation’s work. Simon, creator of the Erase Hate Photo Campaign, is a long time supporter of the Foundation and we are very thankful for making us the charity recipient of his very long run. You can support Simon’s campaign here.

Our sincere thanks to Simon, Natalie and all their friends and family for their support of our work!

Since the death of her son catapulted her into the national spotlight, Judy has spoken to countless schools, companies and community groups. From the United Nations to Walmart, the University of Notre Dame to Dade Community College in Florida, Judy’s message of love and compassion has changed the hearts and minds of every audience she addresses.

Today, we are asking you to celebrate the work of advocates like Judy, and your gift of $15 or more can help us capture the attention of stakeholders across the country.

Following in Judy’s footsteps, we are also excited to introduce you to Tania, mother of 17-year-old Jake, our newest Matthew’s Place blogger – whose story of bullying and death threats became the most viewed post in Matthew’s Place history.

Tania’s love for her son was clear and compelling from the very first email she ever sent us.

When Tania first approached the Foundation, her concern for her son’s safety was palpable. After writing about the torment Jake had felt, she wrote “To hear my son talk about all Matthew went through in his short life, brings tears to my eyes.”

In a reflection she wrote for Matthew’s Place, Tania (pictured left with her children) talks about attending every school board meeting until they implemented an anti-bullying program that would make school a safe place for Jake.

“I have seen my son cry and sob while curled up in a fetal position because he doesn’t understand why someone would want to kill him for being gay,” Tania wrote. “But you know, my kids will always have my heart, and my kiddos are remarkable young adults.“

The love that Tania shows Jake every day is inspiring. To see a dedicated mother like Tania putting her love in action making her community safer for LGBT students lets us know that there is hope, and that the memory of Matthew Shepard lives on.

Your donation of $15 will ensure that we can continue our work to let Judy tell the story of her son and give Jake the opportunity to share his story of overcoming bullying.

Matthew’s Place, our resources website for youth and young adults, provides LGBT and allied youth with not only skills to make their community a better and safer place, but also inspiration by telling the stories of how others are doing the same.

With this redesign, we have launched a number of new features including a personal stories section that will allow everyone to share their story of bullying or harassment and how they were able to overcome it. With our new comments thread, those who have shared their stories will be able to join in a conversation about what others can do to resolve bullying or harassment.

The new Matthew’s Place is also a breeze to use on mobile devices and tablets.

Young people in big cities and small towns alike are able to join the Matthew’s Place community and be themselves. We see many users from rural parts of the country looking for support unavailable in their community.

Matthew’s Place will continue to provide a comprehensive list of local LGBT centers as we expand our youth and young adult blogger program to share what real people are doing to Erase Hate in their own communities. As Matthew’s Place enters this next phase, we welcome your feedback and input as we continue to refine and improve the sight.

Here are those responses.

Q: We were wondering what the general context was back in 1998 for the LGBT community. Was it more violent than it is today? Was Matthew’s murder an ‘isolated’ act of violence or was it the final step in a daily life of general discrimination? 

A: Susan: In 1998, I was mostly ignorant of the LGBT community as a whole. Although I had many gay friends for many years, it wasn’t until Matt’s murder that I was moved to understand the challenges and discrimination faced by those friends. I don’t believe Matt’s murder was an isolated act of violence, nor was it a final step as you describe. It was one of many, many similar crimes that persist to this day.

A: Jason: Gay life in Wyoming in 1998 was not violent – it was quiet, not very visible, and the community was not only quite small, it felt even smaller than it was because online communities, advocacy organizations, and so forth, which have become very prominent in recent years, were either primitive at that time or non-existent. The federal government has tracked anti-LGBT hate crimes since 1991 and with few exceptions, the total number of crimes of this type has remained about the same from year to year. They are quite rare overall, being several hundred crimes annually in a country with more than 300 million people, but the severity and cruelty of them from time to time does generate a public impression of a crisis to those who care about LGBT people.

Q: We guess it wasn’t the first homophobic crime nor the last. Why was Matthew’s murder so largely covered by the media when other crimes were more ‘easily’ ignored? Was it because of the sheer violence of the crime, Matthew’s personality, his young age or the fact the his friends and/or family alerted the media? Was there something fundamentally different about Matthew’s murder?

A: Susan: I think several factors came into play in launching this crime into the international spotlight. Certainly the brutality of the murder was a factor, but as a journalist I believe that mis-reporting in the early hours of the discovery played a large factor. The person who found Matt, Aaron Kreifels, told a law enforcement officer that he first thought Matt was a scarecrow. Scarecrows here are generally put up on a cross-like structure, so when that officer briefed the first reporters about it that crucifixion image came into play. The story began to come across the wires as “young gay man crucified in Wyoming,” which caught the attention of assignment editors and reporters across the country.  It was that image, among other factors, that vaulted this crime into the limelight. I think another big factor was the fact that the conversation about hate had been working in the country, and to that end this became a “last straw” when people decided they’d had enough. In other words, I think the country was ready to hear and take action.

A: Jason: I was a reporter at the time as well and I concur with Susan’s response. I would add my own theory about what makes a news story prominent, or fails to do so. It is like all stories and writing – the ones that get people’s attention tend to have strong and compelling characters, unusual settings and circumstances, a “cliffhanger ending” where the ultimate outcome (i.e. would Matt survive in the hospital or not) is in question, and an audience whose attention is not being distracted by something else (i.e., a busy time in the news with other prominent stories fighting for the public’s attention). I believe Matt’s murder contained all the classic elements of a story that captures the public’s attention. Additionally at that time, the US Senate majority leader had just compared gay people to kleptomaniacs a few weeks earlier and there had been prominent debates about same-sex marriage and military service by gay people in the years leading up to this crime, which introduced LGBT topics into the public discourse more prominently than they had been before.

Q: If you had to describe the impact Matthew’s murder on society in general, how would you put it? Was there a global change towards the LGBT community afterwards? Was that change immediate or is the result of a long, patient, educational work? 

A: Susan: From my perspective I’d have to say that the impact of Matt’s murder was to raise the awareness of this kind of hate, to start conversations and create avenues for change where none existed before, or were simply not heard. I can’t speak to a global change, although I certainly hear this conversation going on in other countries.  I would say the change was not immediate, although the conversation was. The Shepards understood that Matt’s death had captured the attention of the world, but such attention is not always long-lived. This is how the Foundation was created, and there was been a lot of, as you say, long, patient educational work. Certainly the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd Jr. Federal Hate Crimes Act was a result of that kind of perseverance.

A: Jason: There had been a drive for LGBT-related hate crimes to be included in federal law before Matt’s murder but the example of this crime made the debate more concrete and personal to millions of people, as did President Clinton’s vocal support for the idea in the days after Matt’s death. This work continues with patience as its watchword and likely will continue to move at a deliberate, perhaps now accelerating, pace for some years yet to come.

Q: If you had to compare how things are today with how they were back in 1998, would you say that in general, LGBT people are safer and that equality is now concrete or mostly concrete? Or is the way to full equality and safety is still long and that there is still a lot of work to do?

A: Susan: I don’t know if the community is safer, and that’s very depressing to me. I certainly would say that equality is NOT concrete or even mostly concrete, although gains are being made and I think at least in this country we are seeing some change. There is, no doubt, a lot of work to do and I believe it’s very important that the generations to follow take up this cause.

A: Jason: As a gay man, I certainly feel safer, more accepted, better understood and altogether less “controversial” than I did in 1998. I live openly with a partner, have a broad and accepting network of friends and colleagues for whom my sexual orientation is not an issue, our rights as a family are beginning to gain more legal protections, and I seldom encounter hate or discrimination personally (but it does happen occasionally). However, we remain unequal under the laws governing taxation, inheritance, joint tenancy and retirement security, which grow in personal importance with each passing year. I also have experienced rejection by my mother which will probably never change due to her severe religious beliefs, and I know millions of people experience these same shortfalls in personal acceptance and security which I believe will continue to change only gradually over many decades.

Q: We can only imagine that one cannot go through something as violent as Matthew’s murder and some of the reactions that followed and stay exactly the same person. Nearly fifteen years later, if you had to explain what you have learned from Matthew’s murder and how it changed you, what would you say? 

A:Susan: As a journalist, being so immersed in the case when Matthew was killed was just the start of the many ways his death has touched me personally. From being involved with the play “The Laramie Project”, to witnessing first-hand the hate of the Westboro Baptist Church, to seeing how the Shepards have worked unceasingly to bring understanding and compassion to this issue and continue what we believe Matt would have wanted, to finally being given the honor to work with this Foundation…all of these things have led me to believe that this is the work I am called to do. I am changed by learning that I have so much to learn, and work I believe I am charged to do.

A: Jason: I learned that homophobia is real, it can be deadly and it can directly affect someone in my life. I learned that ordinary people whose loved ones suffer a fate like Matt’s can make a difference in his or her memory through stubborn, long effort. I learned that the people of America and the world can be moved by the millions to take up a cause because of the example of a single person. And I learned that despite tragedy and obvious injustice, some people’s attitudes will not only not change, but become more fixed and immovable, despite all efforts to persuade them otherwise.

Q: Do you think that the work you are doing everyday with the Foundation and the fight for a change in legislation, brought and still brings hope out of a tragedy? Was that a way to survive and to grow up as human beings to do something good out of the worst?

A: Susan: I do. I do not believe that this is “something that happened a long time ago and we just need to move on”, as I often hear. That angers and frustrates me. These issues are still with us, and have evolved into similar issues such as excessive bullying and other forms of hate. Our Executive Director Jason Marsden expressed once in a Foundation meeting, that he believes that the Foundation functions rather like a bookmark for Matt in this life, from the work he would have done to the ups and downs of navigating our way through trying to realize all of our expectations and hopes for the work we do.  I think that was amazingly eloquent. And true.

A; Jason: Susan is very kind to echo that thought. The way I tend to think of this is, nothing good ever comes directly from this kind of tragedy, but immeasurable good comes from individuals choosing to respond positively and hopefully in the face of the tragedy. No one who loses a loved one to violence ever moves on, but in parallel channels of their lives they can move things forward if they are so moved to do so.

Susan Burk, Laramie Project Specialist, Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Jason Marsden, Executive Director, Matthew Shepard Foundation

Events for The Lincoln Legacy Project will be presented in cooperation with several partner organizations including the Matthew Shepard Foundation, The Trevor Project, Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, Facing History and Ourselves, Not in Our Town, Split This Rock, Teaching for Change, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“Inspired by Lincoln’s work for justice, peace and equality, The Lincoln Legacy Project investigates moments in our nation’s history where we have failed to live up to our ideals, and provides a platform for dialogue to address steps toward improvement and reconciliation,” said Paul Tetreault, Ford’s Theatre Society Director. “We hope that, in even a small way, this year’s production of The Laramie Project might broaden our perspectives and open our eyes to how hate—in all its forms—weakens our society. We are honored to be joined by so many partner organizations who work in this sphere everyday to eradicate bigotry and intolerance.”

“Every great civil rights advance in our country’s history seems to stem from a place whose name echoes in Americans’ mind long after the crime, or vigil, or march or protest that occurred there,” said Jason Marsden, Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. “Because of the visibility of Matthew Shepard’s murder, and the groundswell of LGBT civil rights activism that followed, Laramie, Wyoming is one of those places. The Laramie Project captures the momentousness of the days following Matt’s death, and the introspection and ongoing debate that lingers so many years later. The Matthew Shepard Foundation is proud and honored to work with Ford’s Theatre on this year’s Lincoln Legacy Project.”

“The Laramie Project helped a town, and then the nation, confront the horror and pain of a viscous hate crime killing by giving voice to an entire community,’ said Patrice O’Neill, Executive Director of Not In Our Town. “Not in Our Town is proud to be a part of the endeavor to promote deep conversations about how all of us are affected by acts of bigotry, and how each of us can find a way to stand up to hate in our communities, our country and our world.”

In addition to The Laramie Project, Ford’s will present four free Monday night panel discussions including a conversation with Judy Shepard, and two staged readings of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, an epilogue exploring what life in Laramie tells us about life in America 10 years later. A complete programming schedule for this year’s Lincoln Legacy Project, including events of our Legacy Project partners, will be announced in September 2013.

The Lincoln Legacy Project is made possible with support from: Ronald O. Perelman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., Founding Sponsor; The Pew Charitable Trusts; the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, Harold Holzer, Chairman, and The Honorable and Mrs. Gregory B. Craig.

Tickets for The Laramie Project will be available for sale to Ford’s Theatre members and groups on May 20, 2013; the public can purchase tickets beginning May 28.

About Ford’s Theatre
One of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital, Ford’s Theatre reopened its doors in 1968, more than a hundred years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Operated through a partnership between Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination in the nation’s capital to explore and celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s ideals and leadership principles: courage, integrity, tolerance, equality and creative expression.

Click here for more information of this production and the Lincoln Legacy Project.