Post by Board Manager on Nov 27, 2005 15:39:20 GMT
The Matthew Shepard Foundation have launched their own charity wristband, promoting a simple message in memory of their murdered gay son.
The purple wristbands carry the words "Erase Hate" on one side, and the website address of the Matthew Shepard Foundation on the other. They are available in two sizes and can be ordered online at www.matthewshepard.org.
Matthew Wayne Shepard was born on 1st December 1976 in Casper, Wyoming. As a teenager, he travelled around Europe, and was able to speak three languages - English, German and Italian.
LURED AWAY
Shortly after midnight on 7th October 1998, Matthew was lured away from a bar by Russell Henderson (then aged 21) and Aaron McKinney (22), after they told him that they were also gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills area of East Laramie, where the pair launched a brutal attack.
He was tied to a metal railing, while his assailants began beating, torturing and pistol-whipping him, before leaving him to die, lying in the snow at the side of the road - still tied to the railings.
DISCOVERY
Matthew lay there until he was discovered by a cyclist some 18 hours later. The cyclist initially mistook the critically injured victim as a scarecrow, because he had been so badly beaten. He was unconscious and his face was caked with blood, except for a few places where it had been partially washed clean by his final tears as he lay dying.
He was rushed to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where doctors said that Matthew had a fractured skull, and a massive brain stem injury. There were approximately twelve cuts and lacerations to his head and face.
Matthew was so badly injured that doctors were physically unable to operate, or try to save his life. He never regained consciousness, and died in hospital on Monday 12th October 1998, five days after the attack.
Matthew was laid to rest in his hometown, Casper. His funeral took place four days later, on Friday 16th October, as news of the horrific murder spread around the world.
Matthew was HIV+ at the time of his death, although no-one close to him knew that. It is likely that Matthew himself was not even aware.
In December 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard formed the Matthew Shepard Foundation, in memory of their much loved 21 year old son. The foundation is still very much alive today, and honours Matthew in a manner wholly appropriate to his dreams, his beliefs and aspirations.
The two men convicted of the killing were at the centre of more controversy late last year, when New York's ABC News Channel aired a programme in which the pair claimed that Matthew's sexuality had nothing to do with his murder. This claim followed their earlier admission to Police that they killed him "because he was gay".
The purple wristbands carry the words "Erase Hate" on one side, and the website address of the Matthew Shepard Foundation on the other. They are available in two sizes and can be ordered online at www.matthewshepard.org.
Matthew Wayne Shepard was born on 1st December 1976 in Casper, Wyoming. As a teenager, he travelled around Europe, and was able to speak three languages - English, German and Italian.
LURED AWAY
Shortly after midnight on 7th October 1998, Matthew was lured away from a bar by Russell Henderson (then aged 21) and Aaron McKinney (22), after they told him that they were also gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills area of East Laramie, where the pair launched a brutal attack.
He was tied to a metal railing, while his assailants began beating, torturing and pistol-whipping him, before leaving him to die, lying in the snow at the side of the road - still tied to the railings.
DISCOVERY
Matthew lay there until he was discovered by a cyclist some 18 hours later. The cyclist initially mistook the critically injured victim as a scarecrow, because he had been so badly beaten. He was unconscious and his face was caked with blood, except for a few places where it had been partially washed clean by his final tears as he lay dying.
He was rushed to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where doctors said that Matthew had a fractured skull, and a massive brain stem injury. There were approximately twelve cuts and lacerations to his head and face.
Matthew was so badly injured that doctors were physically unable to operate, or try to save his life. He never regained consciousness, and died in hospital on Monday 12th October 1998, five days after the attack.
Matthew was laid to rest in his hometown, Casper. His funeral took place four days later, on Friday 16th October, as news of the horrific murder spread around the world.
Matthew was HIV+ at the time of his death, although no-one close to him knew that. It is likely that Matthew himself was not even aware.
In December 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard formed the Matthew Shepard Foundation, in memory of their much loved 21 year old son. The foundation is still very much alive today, and honours Matthew in a manner wholly appropriate to his dreams, his beliefs and aspirations.
The two men convicted of the killing were at the centre of more controversy late last year, when New York's ABC News Channel aired a programme in which the pair claimed that Matthew's sexuality had nothing to do with his murder. This claim followed their earlier admission to Police that they killed him "because he was gay".