As Congress moves
to make the Matthew Shepard Act a reality, Dennis
Shepard urges you to take action
When my son
Matthew was murdered nearly nine years ago, my family had a
decision to make. We could mourn Matthew’s death
privately—withdrawing into some semblance of
seclusion, try to resume our “normal” lives,
pretending that nothing had changed… or we could use
this tragedy to talk about hate and help make
Matthew’s murder a wake-up call throughout our
country. We made our decision—a choice we consciously
and proudly continue to support every day.
Our son died
because of hate. He was killed simply because he was gay.
For us, our choice was a no-brainer. Not a day goes by that
I don’t think about Matthew—his spirit,
his passion for people, or his smile. And since his
death, we have witnessed more acts of hate, bigotry, and
injustice against other lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender Americans. For Matthew and all of the
other victims, our family has chosen to fight and to
act—to speak out against hate, to come out as allies,
and to engage ourselves in the process of change.
Some days are
harder than others, but I choose to act for the memory of
my son. I choose to act for the memories of the thousands of
victims of hate crimes. I choose to act for those who
don’t have the strength or ability to act. I
choose to act because we as a nation cannot afford not
to act.
I choose to act
because I was, and still am, very proud of my son—of
who he was and the struggles he had to overcome to
become that man. I choose to act because I never want
another LGBT American to go through the fear, the
pain, the violence, or the loneliness that Matthew went
through on that horrible night. I choose to act
because I never want another parent to go through what
we went through—the grief, the giant hole in the
heart, the bedside vigil, or the realization that holidays,
family vacations, and the normal, dull routine of
work, home, and life will never, ever be the same.
All of
us—gay and straight alike–need to act. Hate
affects each and every one of us. It knows no limits,
follows no clear set of rules, and has infiltrated our
society’s most basic institutions. For that reason, I
am humbled that the United States House of
Representatives has chosen to act, and to do so in
Matt’s memory, and the United States Senate is
poised to follow. They are now taking the first giant steps
in making the Matthew Shepard Act the law of our land.
The legislation
is simple: to protect people from being attacked, beaten,
brutalized, and murdered because of who they are.
It’s a necessary, measured response to the
consequences of hate that took my son away from me and
has taken far too many other Americans from those who loved
them.
I challenge all
of you to follow the example of the House by making the
choice to act. Encourage your senators to vote for the
Matthew Shepard Act. Today. Tell your story about how
hate has affected your family. Today. Come out as LGBT
and allied. Today. Choose to erase hate. Today! We all
have a responsibility to act. If we don’t–who
will?
To find out how
to contact your senators, please visit
matthewshepard.org.
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