Lady Gaga – HRC Supper sings John Lennon’s Imagine
11 years ago, Matthew Sheppard, a 21-yr old man in Wyoming lost his life after being severely beaten and tortured 6 days earlier because he was gay.
According to Wikpedia,
“Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in a bar. McKinney and Henderson offered Shepard a ride in their car. Subsequently, Shepard was robbed, pistol whipped, tied to a fence in a remote, area, and left to die. McKinney and Henderson also found out his address and intended to rob his home. Still tied to the fence, Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow<. At the time of discovery, Shepard was still alive, but in a coma.
Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his body’s ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. As he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.
He was pronounced dead at 12:53 A.M. on October 12, 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun as well as the victim’s shoes and wallet in their truck.
The two men had attempted to persuade their girlfriends to provide alibis”
A nation mourned. A nation shook their heads. A nation returned to denial and fearing the different, and continued over the next eleven years to debate passing laws so that such a thing could not happen again without being tried as a hate crime. Finally 11 years later, this action might be taken. The leader of this nation, who was just awarded a Nobel Peace Prize (considered by many to be given because he was not his predecessor) has said that he will quickly sign this law into action. He has also said that he will repeal the defence of marriage act, and change the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the U. S. military so that a gay man or a lesbian can have the right to defend their country without denying who they are. So far his well-intentioned words have been just that, we will see. The fact that any of these things face any obstacle or opposition puzzles and saddens me. At least up here in Canada, I can have the family that I have, love and raise children with whom I chose and be legally protected. My fervent wish is that the country of my birth will smarten the fuck up and move forward so that we can have the same freedoms there. Until then as John Lennon wrote and Lady Gaga sings,let’s imagine.