A topic close to my heart this month.
By
L.C. Dean
Fifteen
years ago, on an October night, a young man stopped to have drink in a bar.
Maybe chat with a few people. Nothing big. Just have a little fun. There he met
up with two other men, both seemingly friendly, who offered (or who he asked
for) a ride home. He never made it back. A cyclist found him the
next morning,
beaten but alive, tied to a fence like some macabre Halloween decoration. The
only spots on his face not covered by blood were the tracks of his tears. His
injuries were so severe doctors were unable to operate. Matthew Shepard lived
for six more days but never regained consciousness. His attackers had pretended
to be gay to get him into their vehicle in order to beat and torture him simply
because he was homosexual. Protestors picketed his funeral with signs reading
“No Tears for Queers.” That one horrible and unconscionable placard has stuck
in my head for a decade and a half.
Matthew’s
death remains the most recognizable example of hate against a gay man in the United
States today. His torture and subsequent death launched the campaign for a hate
crimes bill. Eleven years later, President Obama signed The Matthew Shepard and
James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/matthewshepard.php
—better known as the Matthew Shepard Act—into law on October 28, 2009. (Byrd
was beaten and dragged behind a pickup by known white supremacists until dead.)
The Act expanded the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include
crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity, or disability.
This
legislation now makes hate driven violence, no matter the recipient, a major
crime. Still, across the nation brutality continues against those perceived as
different or weaker somehow. Race, gender, sexual orientation, and a plethora
of other excuses pop up again and again to justify violence against individuals
or groups. There are laws in place to handle such issues, but stopping it
begins with the individual. We live in America where free speech declares we all
have the right to speak out against things which concern us. Hate should
concern everyone.
No
one has to approve or support the ideas, lives, and attitudes of others. But
does anyone have the right to end a life just because someone is different? Free
speech gives us the right to take a stand against hate. We can say no to
violence and yes to acceptance. If you hear of or see such things, be the voice
of reason, call the police, take a stand…but don’t ignore it. Had someone who
knew Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson’s intentions intervened in some way,
even to turn their thoughts to other things, perhaps Matthew would not have died.
No human being, whether different from the majority or not, deserves to suffer
this type of treatment. Martin Luther King, Jr. told us all of his dream, and we have come a long way since then, but we have a long way to go until “all
men are created equal” and are judged only by the “content of their character.”
Love is love no matter what.
All
my hope and friendship to readers, friends, and countrymen alike—please,
remember those who have suffered or died at the hand of hate and help stop
unjustifiable violence.
L.C.
Dean
Matthew
Shepard Foundation http://www.matthewshepard.org/
The
James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing can be reached at 888-656-6514 or by
electronic mail at byrdfound@juno.com
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