Where were you?

Where were you 10 years ago, when it became about more than just Laramie? When the world stood still because a young boy died, because he was beaten to death for who he was, when Live and Let Live no longer applied in Laramie. It was 10 years ago today that Matthew Shepard died, after suffering for a week in a coma.

I will always remember where I was when I heard of the beating and of Matthew's death. For me, it will be a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life, much like my mother remembers where she was when JFK was shot. I was working on a college campus in MA, and I was the only OUT gay, lesbian, bisexual faculty or staff member. I was advising the campus LGBT group and trying to impress upon college age GLBT kids that the world was just and right. How do you do that when something like Matthew happens? How can life possibly go on?

It goes on, because it has to, so there will be fewer Matthews taken away from their mothers and fathers. So fewer of us will be the victim of a hate crime, so fewer of us will have to cry when something senseless like this happens. So fewer of us will hear FAG growing up. So more of us will have the courage to come out and be who we really are.

Life goes on SO there wont be another Matthew. SO THIS WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN. We need to do more to ERASE HATE, the government has failed to act in 10 years (a decade) to protect it's LGBT citizens from this type of attack. The government has encouraged hatred of not just it's LGBT citizens, but it's citizens that are not white, those that weren't born here in this country, it has, in every sense just encouraged HATRED.

ERASE HATE - please, all of our lives depend on it.

For more information, please visit the Matthew Shepard Foundation at

www.matthewshepard.org

and together we can help ERASE HATE.