Please stop the hate (Matthew Shepard 10th anniversary of his death) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

snowcreature23 · 10-12-2008, 06:50 PM

This is a little late,but we need to stop and just think for a while, what if this was your son or daughter?
Teach your children love,not hate and mabe the next generation will be more respectful for another human being either Gay,stright,Bi oR TV. Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. Matthew was 21, and was brutally tortured and murdered because he was gay.

Matthew had been lured from a campus bar shortly after midnight on October 7 by two men who told him they were gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills neighborhood east of Laramie, tied to a split-rail fence, tortured, beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, while he begged for his life; he was then left for dead in near freezing temperatures. A cyclist who found him on Snowy Mountain View Road at 6:22 pm, some 18 hours after the attack, at first mistook him for a scarecrow. He was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. His face was caked with blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by tears.

Matthew died at 12:53 am on Monday 12th October 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his family at his bedside. Hospital officials said Matthew had a fracture from behind his head to just in front of his right ear and a massive brain stem injury which affected his vital signs, including his heart beat, body temperature and other involuntary functions. There were also approximately a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. He was so badly injured in the attack that doctors were unable to operate. He never regained consciousness after being found, and remained on full life support.

On this anniversary of his death, might we all take a moment out of our busy lives and think about how anyone could possibly hate so much that they could do this to a human being. Hate in our world needs to come to an end. If we only start ending hate in our homes, then in our work place and the organizations we belong to, it will be a start to putting an end to hatred all together.

Janice · 10-12-2008, 07:54 PM

That story breaks me up every time. Matthew had the sweetest, kindest face. He had the terrible misfortune to run into pure evil that night.

MusicJunkie · 10-12-2008, 08:10 PM

wow, I can't believe a decade has already passed! I was still "newly out" when this happened and this showed how much evil was still in the world.

I have to hand it to his mother, Judy Shepard picked up her sons torch and has become such a strong advocate for not only gays and lesbians who have faced discriminated, but all minority groups. Much like John Walsh did after his son Adam, she is someone who dealt with a personal tragedy and took a proactive solution to try to make sure nothing like that happens again.

10-12-2008, 06:50 PM	#1
snowcreature23 Jason is waiting. Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 16, 2007 Location: Kenai,Alaska. Posts: 758	Please stop the hate (Matthew Shepard 10th anniversary of his death) This is a little late,but we need to stop and just think for a while, what if this was your son or daughter? Teach your children love,not hate and mabe the next generation will be more respectful for another human being either Gay,stright,Bi oR TV. Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. Matthew was 21, and was brutally tortured and murdered because he was gay. Matthew had been lured from a campus bar shortly after midnight on October 7 by two men who told him they were gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills neighborhood east of Laramie, tied to a split-rail fence, tortured, beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, while he begged for his life; he was then left for dead in near freezing temperatures. A cyclist who found him on Snowy Mountain View Road at 6:22 pm, some 18 hours after the attack, at first mistook him for a scarecrow. He was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. His face was caked with blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by tears. Matthew died at 12:53 am on Monday 12th October 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his family at his bedside. Hospital officials said Matthew had a fracture from behind his head to just in front of his right ear and a massive brain stem injury which affected his vital signs, including his heart beat, body temperature and other involuntary functions. There were also approximately a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. He was so badly injured in the attack that doctors were unable to operate. He never regained consciousness after being found, and remained on full life support. On this anniversary of his death, might we all take a moment out of our busy lives and think about how anyone could possibly hate so much that they could do this to a human being. Hate in our world needs to come to an end. If we only start ending hate in our homes, then in our work place and the organizations we belong to, it will be a start to putting an end to hatred all together.
	__________________ JUST BELEIVE

10-12-2008, 07:54 PM	#2
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	That story breaks me up every time. Matthew had the sweetest, kindest face. He had the terrible misfortune to run into pure evil that night.

10-12-2008, 08:10 PM	#3
MusicJunkie Member Forum Regular Join Date: Sep 23, 2008 Location: where I live Posts: 791	wow, I can't believe a decade has already passed! I was still "newly out" when this happened and this showed how much evil was still in the world. I have to hand it to his mother, Judy Shepard picked up her sons torch and has become such a strong advocate for not only gays and lesbians who have faced discriminated, but all minority groups. Much like John Walsh did after his son Adam, she is someone who dealt with a personal tragedy and took a proactive solution to try to make sure nothing like that happens again.