October 15, 1999
GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
speakout
It's been one year, and 20 murders, since Shepard's death
by Mubarak S. Dahir
The very day I sit down to write this column, Monday, October 11, is the one-year anniversary of the eve of Matthew Shepard' death.
I still remember hearing the chilling news. I was an editorial writer in St. Louis at the time, and I was scanning the wire services on my computer at work. There was a mechanism to "tag" wire stories with key words, and I had months before earmarked the words gay and lesbian to flag stories of possible interest.
I could have had no idea just how much interest there would be that day, for all of us who are gay or lesbian, in the story of one young college boy whose name none of us should ever have known.
But Matthew Shepard was not fated to live an unremarkable life and death, and by the end of the day, all of America knew his name. Of course, much of America, particularly gay and lesbian America, had heard his name five days earlier, when his body was found pistol-whipped and tied to a fence. Left for dead, Matthew Shepard hung onto life for five more gritty days before he succumbed, shortly after midnight on October 12.
The story of his beating was shocking and maddening enough, but his subsequent death shook those of us who are gay and lesbian in an even more profound way. It was an icy realization that we live in a country where people are actually murdered simply because of their sexual orientation.
I remember talking to my lover on the phone the day Matthew Shepard died. My lover was 1,000 miles away in New York City when I asked if he'd heard the news. Of course he had. We all had. But we didn't say much about it that night. Like most gay men and lesbians I know we were stunned, in a sort of stupefied state of shock that such a tragedy was so easily executed in America.
I remember how my lover told me, "I love you," with particular sentiment that evening, and I how I lingered over his words and voice before I hung up the phone.
But when I woke up the next day, the numbness had worn off, and the anger set in.
For me, and it seemed, for the rest of gay and lesbian America, too, Matthew Shepard's death sparked an outpouring of anger and sadness and determination. That day at work, my computer screen was filled with wire reports of protests across the country, of angry demonstrations, of dozens of candlelight vigils. Vigils like the one I, too, attended that very evening in St. Louis, on the edge of a well-known gay.
Even more disturbing than the lack of political will in this country is the continued disregard for human life that is gay or lesbian.
park, crowded next to more than 500 gay men and lesbians who had converged for a public grieving.
I still recall the words of one of the long line of speakers that night, an activist who insisted in defiant anger that Matthew Shepard did not, could not, have died in vain.
Today, on the one-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death, and on the eve of the trial of one of his murderers, it seems appropriate to reflect on what we as a nation have learned, if anything, from this man's horrible death.
I wish I could be more encouraging. But the facts do not warrant it.
Since Matthew Shepard's death, only one state-Missouri-passed a new hate crime law that included sexual orientation. (California and New Hampshire did strengthen their already existing laws.) Meanwhile, proposed hate crime legislation spurred by the anger and fear and disbelief of Matthew Shepard's death failed in 22 other states including Wyoming, the very state where Shepard was murdered. More than half the states in this country-28, including Ohio-still don't have hate crime
laws that include sexual orientation.
And while the Senate passed the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act this past summer, the House has refused to follow suit.
Even more disturbing than the lack of political will in this country is the continued disregard for human life that is gay or lesbian. According to statistics from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, at least 20 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have been murdered in the United States since Matthew Shepard's own untimely death a year ago. Twenty deaths in twelve months. That
means every two and half weeks, a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person is murdered somewhere in this country.
It makes me wonder now that there was so much numbness and wonder and disbelief at Matthew Shepard's killing.
Now, a full year later, I am numbed by the realization that the perhaps the most horrifying aspect of Matthew Shepard's death is the fact that it is a lot more common than most of us realize or dare admit.
Mubarak Dahir can be reached at MubarakDah@aol.com
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letters tothe editor
Continued from facing page really need funding, I just kind of pick and choose.
Unfortunately, some of the people who work for the organizations have no qualms with releasing my name to mailing lists. If you want to meet a lot of people, simply send a check for $20 to your local gay charity. You will be deluged with mail. It is amazing that I have not been asked for a donation for lesbians that live in Chile, or gay men that need cash to fix their car.
Today, for the third straight day, I have received a solicitation that is very kind. Quote: "That is life living with HIV. So, I encourage you to be brave, question your doctor and conventional wisdom, and struggle to come up with the right solution for you."
This is what I get in the mail. Now, first, I do not have HIV. I simply contribute to
RET
Hoa Tub Paol
organizations that assist people who do. Just because I am gay and I write a check, it's rather assumed I am positive. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with being positive, but don't you rather think people could ask?
I get mail all the time from people that will buy my life insurance policy for a dime on the dollar, new drug treatments, etc. Last time I was at the doctor it was because I broke my toe. While I certainly believe that illuminating people on the importance of HIV is crucial, I do not get mail every single day from other charities.
A word of advice for charities: If I send you money, it's because I believe in what you are doing. Please do not repay me by selling my name to everyone you can think of. Simply cash the check.
Randy Sindelar Corturillo Cleveland
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