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365 days ago (at the time this was first written), Matthew Shepard, a young, vibrant, caring, promising former Denver resident, died in from severe injuries due to a brutal beating and torture. It was the cold, blistering, early morning of Monday, October 12, 1998, in Laramie, WY.
In the year since his death, his two murderers were caught & their trials have begun. One made a plea bargain & is to testify against the other. The other had a girlfriend who assisted after the fact. Initially, she contended she was unaware of what had transpired, despite the fact she helped them clean up & dispose of some very bloody clothing. She eventually ...........
Her boyfriend is in the process of being tried. The defense attorney was going to use the "fear of a gay proposition" as a defense. What urks me most about this is: if a person is confident in his or her ownn sexuality / manhood, how can being propositioned by a gay individual even remotely prompt any such action? How can such a proposition evoke any negative reaction beyond "...No, sorry, ...I'm not into that lifestyle...." etc? How...why... those are the questions that swirl thru my mind each time I thingk of this eventful night/morn... that... and imagining what he must have been thinking, feeling, praying, wishing....
And I can only remotely imagine a micoroscopic amount of what he went thru.
Matthew, our hearts, tears, saddness, loss to explain,... all have not waned since we first heard of your death. Neither has our resolve to promote tolerance to our utmost ability!! |