Trailer: Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine

Premiering Monday on Logo at 9PM.

Gun Used In 2012 Shooting At FRC Office Goes On Display At Crime Museum

The gun used in the 2012 shooting at the Family Research Council's headquarters has gone on display at Washington DC's Crime Museum. Via World Net Daily:

The yellowed “eyes” of the Volkswagen Beetle that serial killer Ted Bundy used to kidnap his victims still watch over a grisly display of crime artifacts: Unabomber letters. The noose from a Ku Klux Klan lynching. Rubble from 9/11. And now, the gun used by homosexual activist Floyd Lee Corkins in his attack on the Family Research Council has joined the collection of the Crime Museum in Washington, D.C., as part of the exhibit “Domestic Terrorism and Hate Crimes,” which opened to the public on March 18.

Corkins admitted he picked FRC, which promotes traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs about family and sexuality, because the organization was listed as an “anti-gay” hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center on its website. Retired Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, FRC executive vice president and a member of the board of WND.com, told WND the exhibit’s inclusion of the FRC attack makes sense in a domestic terror and hate crime display.

Boykin told WND he wants the U.S. government and its agencies to stop working with SPLC and citing its work, but said his group has never appealed to the SPLC to take them off its hate map because they don’t think it is legitimate. The general called the map capricious and noted it has no definition of a hate group: “More importantly, we think what they’re doing is absolutely reckless, particularly given they put us in the same category as groups like the Klu Klux Klan and the skinheads.” Pressure has to be put on the SPLC to stop this, because, Boykin said, “It is reckless behavior that has, at least in this case, incited someone to want to kill people who don’t believe what they believe and stand for.”

Also on display in the exhibit is a copy of the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Hate Crimes Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in 2009, Judy Shepard's book about her son, and the #98 Brooklyn Nets jersey worn by Jason Collins in Shepard's memory. Those items, of course, are not mentioned in the above-linked World Net Daily article.

President Obama Marks Fifth Anniversary Of Signing The Matthew Shepard Act

Via White House press release:

Five years ago, I was proud to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act into law – a law that strengthened the protections against crimes based on the color of our skin, the love in our hearts, the faith we practice, or the place of our birth.

This law gave the Justice Department new tools for prosecuting criminals. It directed new resources to law enforcement agencies, so they could better serve their communities. And it did what we want all our laws to do: it reflected and strengthened our core national values. By recognizing violent bigotry as an especially dangerous crime – one that not only harms individuals, but threatens the social fabric that binds our country together – the Shepard Byrd Hate Crimes Act has made it possible for more Americans to live freely, openly and safely, and has reinforced our nation’s sacred commitment to equality for all.

Since this law was passed, the FBI and Department of Justice have vigorously investigated and prosecuted dozens of hate crime cases nationwide, including attacks on minorities, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities. The number of individuals charged with hate crimes has increased significantly over the past five years. And state and local law enforcement officers and other community members have received training in how to recognize and address hate crimes. The law is working.

Our job isn’t done. We must continue to stand together against intolerance and hate wherever they occur, and respond decisively when they lead to violence. Ours is a country built on the notion that all people are created equal. It’s up to us to make that ideal real, in our words and deeds as well as in our laws – to ensure that, in America, everyone is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, no matter who they are or who they love.

Sullivan Backs Matthew Shepard Truthers

"The question here is whether the crime was solely a function of the homophobic hatred of two strangers who beat up and brutally murdered someone merely because he was gay. That’s the official line of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign. Of course these motives could also have been involved. I’m arguing that meth can explain all of it, but may not be the only factor involved. I can’t read the meth-addled minds of the foul murderers. I can detect bullshit from the gay rights establishment. No one wants to confess a meth robbery gone haywire, and they may have thought the gay panic defense might work – and it didn’t. The Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign should not be smearing and demonizing good faith work by a courageous openly gay journalist. They need to apologize, and correct the record. At some point, their convenient untruth must stop." - Andrew Sullivan, responding to the uproar that followed after the Guardian this week published an essay in praise of the widely-debunked book which claims that Shepard's murder was not an anti-gay hate crime. Sullivan has long opposed hate crimes laws.

RELATED: Media Matters' Carlos Maza reports on the flap.

On October 25, The Guardian published an article by columnist Julie Bindel titled "The truth behind America's most famous gay-hate murder." The report focuses on the widely discredited 2013 book The Book of Matt, in which author Stephen Jimenez attempts to make the case that Matthew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998 was drug-related and not, as it is widely believed, motivated by anti-gay hate.

The book has been criticized for relying on shoddy sources and omitting key facts about the case, prompting the Matthew Shepard Foundation to condemn the book for being based on rumors and innuendo. Jimenez's book has been described as "fictional" by the lead detective in the case. People familiar with the murder - including one of the killer's appellate attorneys, Albany County Sheriff Dave O'Malley, and Albany County Undersheriff Robert Debree - have condemned the book as factually challenged.

But Bindel didn't include those criticisms in her piece. Instead, she portrayed Jimenez as a victim of gay activists' blind desire to hide the truth about Shepard's murder. It's unclear why Bindel failed to mention the numerous flaws with Jimenez's book. She has previously been criticized for claiming that she chose to be gay and for making inflammatory comments about the transgender community.

Excerpts from the book have been published on many anti-gay sites and hate groups leaders frequently cite it as evidence that hate crimes laws are unneeded and exist only to stifle Christianity.

Matthew Shepard's Parents Speak On The 16th Anniversary Of His Death

COMPILATION: Gay News In The 1990s

JMG reader Dave Evans has compiled an hour of gay-related news reports that aired in the 1990s. Among the topics: ACT UP demonstrations, the Boy Scouts, gay pride marches, the election of Bill Clinton, the enactment of DADT, the enactment of DOMA, and the murder of Matthew Shepard.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Compilations of gay news in the 1970s, gay news in the 1980s, and the first ten years of HIV/AIDS.

Tweet Of The Day - Jason Collins

ESPN reports:

Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins met privately with the parents and brother of the late Matthew Shepard following the team's 112-89 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night at Pepsi Center. The player gave Dennis and Judy Shepard an autographed, No. 98 black and white jersey, and laughter could be heard throughout the 10-minute meeting. Collins, who became the first active openly gay player in NBA history Sunday after signing a 10-day contract with the Nets, wears No. 98 in honor of Shepard, who was beaten, tortured and murdered in a 1998 anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming. "It was great," said Judy Shepard, who had spoken with Collins by phone last year after Collins announced he was gay and wore No. 98 because of her son. "It was all great. He's very kind, smart, humble. It was delightful. We were happy to finally have the opportunity to meet." She said receiving his jersey was "cool. It was very sweet, very genuine and very thoughtful." "I did not want to give them a sweaty jersey," Collins said with a laugh when asked whether it was game-worn. "This is a backup."

RELATED: Collins scored three points in last night's game. They were the first points scored by an openly gay player in NBA history, but the announcers in the below clip made only routine comments. That's probably a good thing.

Quote Of The Day - Rev. Gary Hall

"In its wisdom, the church came to its senses and labeled both racism and sexism as sinful. And now we find ourselves at the last barrier—call that barrier homophobia, call it heterosexism. We must now have the courage to take the final step and call homophobia and heterosexism what they are. They are sin. Homophobia is a sin. Heterosexism is a sin. Shaming people for whom they love is a sin. Shaming people because their gender identity doesn’t fit neatly into your sense of what it should be is a sin. Our job, as Christians, is not only to proclaim that Gospel. Our job is to live it. And if we are faithful in proclaiming and living it, today’s generation of LGBT youth will thrive and grow and take their places around this table, with Jesus, as we bless, forgive, heal, and love the world. Amen." - Rev. Gary Hall, chief ecclesiastical leader of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, in a sermon marking the 15th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard.

MISSISSIPPI: Football Players Disrupt Campus Production Of Laramie Project

According to the Daily Mississippian, members of the University of Mississippi football team disrupted a campus production of the Laramie Project and shouted "fag" during the show.

Cast members of the play, which is about an openly gay male who was murdered in Laramie County in Wyoming, said members of the audience became so disruptive at times that they struggled completing the play. According to the play’s director and theater faculty member Rory Ledbetter, some audience members used derogatory slurs like “fag” and heckled both cast members and the characters they were portraying for their body types and sexual orientations. Ledbetter said the audience’s reactions included “borderline hate speech.” “I am the only gay person on the cast,” junior theater major Garrison Gibbons said. “I played a gay character in the show, and to be ridiculed like that was something that really made me realize that some people at Ole Miss and in Mississippi still can’t accept me for who I am.”

The players are reportedly enrolled in a freshman-level theater course that requires attending a number of school plays during the term. The school's athletics department has acknowledged the incident and emailed an apology to the head of the theater department, but no disciplinary action has yet been announced.

Jason Collins' #98 Jersey: Top Seller

The Washington Wizards announced today that 100% of its online custom jersey sales in the last 48 hours have borne the name and number of Jason Collins.

Washington Wizards center Jason Collins’ jerseys got a boost in online sales after he became the first openly gay athlete on a major U.S. team sport. Team spokesman Scott Hall told ABC News that 100 percent of custom jerseys ordered from the team’s online store bore Collins’ name and number, 98, on the back, after Collins revealed his homosexuality in an article published on Sports Illustrated’s website on Monday. While Hall could not reveal how many custom Collins jerseys were sold, he said that the team’s general merchandise sales and online traffic spiked following Collins’ announcement. In a statement, the Wizards said they were proud of Collins and “his decision to live his life proudly and openly.”

The parents of Matthew Shepard revealed yesterday that they were "brought to tears" by the news that Collins chose his jersey number as a secret memorial to the year that Shepard was murdered. Customize your Collins jersey here.

Collins: I Secretly Chose #98 As A Tribute To Matthew Shepard & Trevor Project

The parents of Matthew Shepard say they are floored at the news that Jason Collins secretly chose 98 as his uniform number as a tribute to Matthew Shepard and the Trevor Project, which was founded in August 1998 two months before Shepard was murdered.

“It made me cry,” Judy Shepard told FOXSports.com during an interview Monday afternoon. “It was really quite a tribute, and I was very honored. And I know Matt would be thrilled.” And the Shepards hope, someday, to be able to thank Collins personally for his bravery in opening himself up to the world and honoring their son’s name in the process.   “I would really love to speak to him, because I know Judy and I would just like to thank him,” Dennis Shepard said. “Because, No. 1, he had the courage to come out, period, and No. 2 that he wore 98 in honor of Matt, the year that he died. “(Collins) couldn’t have been that old (when it happened), so it must have had a tremendous impact on him, the story behind Matt, for him to want to do that. And then to wear it all this time without telling people why until today, that’s incredible.”

The head of the Trevor Project says they plan to reach out to Collins about working together.

Imagine A World Without Hate

The Anti-Defamation League imagines a world that still has Harvey Milk, Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, and Matthew Shepard in it.

HomoQuotable - George Takei

"Matthew [Shepard's] death brought about calls for stricter hate crime legislation. Under Wyoming and Federal law at the time, LGBT persons were not included within existing hate crime definitions. The battle to bring about this change was not easy. It took nearly 20 years of lobbying, votes, threats of vetoes, and partisan bickering before a Federal law included LGBT persons within the definition. On October 28, 2009, President Obama finally signed the Matthew Shepard Act into law.

"I came out publicly in 2005, though I had been out privately for many decades with friends and family. My decision stemmed from a desire to stand up and be counted, so that I could help people see the human side of how bigotry, hatred and intolerance affects others. Coming out is never easy, and often never ending. If you have gay, lesbian or bisexual friends who have come out to you, take the time to thank them today for their courage, and for helping to make a difference in the lives of others, especially of young people like Matthew Shepard who bear so much of the burden of homophobia, bullying and violence against LGBT people. Thank you. And Matthew, I promise you, we will remember." - George Takei, writing in observance of today's 14th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard.

SF Chorus: Tribute To Matthew Shepard

The lyrics are close-captioned on YouTube.

RELATED: The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus will hold their annual fundraising gala on Sunday, October 14th. I'll be there with Dan Savage and his husband.

Full Movie: The Laramie Project

Posted to YouTube today in its entirety.

Moisés Kaufman and members of New York's Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepard's visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of "Angels in America" a year after Shephard's death.

MONTANA: Tea Party Head Fired After Facebook Joke About Killing Gays

Montana Tea Party president Tim Ravndal has been fired after making Facebook jokes about the murder of Matthew Shepard in a posting denouncing same-sex marriage and the ACLU. Ravndal's Facebook friend: "I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions.” Ravndal responded: "Where can I get that Wyoming printed instruction manual?" The Montana Tea Party issued this statement announcing Ravndal's firing:

We are extremely disappointed by Mr. Ravndal’s commentary. The discussion in that Facebook conversation is entirely outside the position of the Big Sky Tea Party. Even though Mr. Ravndal was having a personal conversation and made no reference to our group, we felt strongly that swift and decisive action was required as we cannot accept that sort of behavior from within our membership, let alone from an officer of the corporation.

Photo Of The Day: Hater 1 - Protesters 500

Protesters outnumbered an anti-gay hater by 500-1 at a scheduled Westboro picket of a high school performance of the Laramie Project in Louisiana. Westboro didn't show.

UPDATE: Here's an amusing clip of the protesters getting ready for Westboro.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the Tectonic Theater Project, today's Swag Tuesday prize is two tickets to the October 12th performance of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at NYC's Lincoln Center.

The groundbreaking epilogue to the Laramie Project, titled THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER, will be performed in New York at Lincoln Center and over 150 other theaters across the country on October 12, 2009. The Lincoln Center premiere will feature a pre-show that will be webcast live to the other productions and include guest host Glenn Close, welcoming remarks by Judy Shepard and a post-production Q and A moderated by National Public Radio Arts and Culture correspondent Neda Ulabay.

“We now have over 150 theaters participating in this historic event and are thrilled to be joined by Judy Shepard, Glenn Close and our other special guests at the NY premiere” said Greg Reiner, Executive Director of the Tectonic Theater Project. “The interest and enthusiasm that the epilogue is receiving is very exciting and demonstrates to us the power the Shepard story still holds for people, as part of our collective history and as a lesson to all about homophobia, what is means to be gay in a small town and how stories must be re-told to ensure that the legacy of these kinds of incidents is correct,” continued Reiner. “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later will engage the audience as did the original, and we expect there will be many who are surprised to learn what Laramie is like a decade after Matt’s murder,” concluded Reiner. The writers of this play are Tectonic Theater Project members Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber.

Tickets to the event at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall are a very reasonable $100. Get tickets here. Enter to win two tickets by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your comment. If you cannot be in NYC on October 12th, your winning entry is transferable to another party. Entries close at midnight Wednesday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Laramie Project Gets Epilogue

A epilogue called The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, which gives voice to Matthew Shepard's killer, opens nationwide on October 12th.

A decade after "The Laramie Project" became a theatrical phenomenon, its creators are back with an epilogue highlighted by a riveting prison interview with the killer of gay college student Matthew Shepard — depicting him as candid but not remorseful over the murder. The new production, which opens nationwide Oct. 12 at more than 130 theaters, features a segment based on more than 10 hours of face-to-face interviews with convicted killer Aaron McKinney, conducted by Greg Pierotti, a gay actor/writer who helped create the original docudrama.

According to the detailed notes taken by Pierotti and condensed into the new script, McKinney says he had been drawn to crime ever since childhood, feels sympathy for Shepard's parents and expresses regret that he let his own father down. "As far as Matt is concerned, I don't have any remorse," McKinney is quoted as saying in the script, which was provided to The Associated Press by the production company. McKinney, according to the script, reiterates his claim that the 1998 killing in Laramie, Wyo., started out as a robbery, but makes clear that his antipathy toward gays played a role. "The night I did it, I did have hatred for homosexuals," McKinney is quoted as saying. He goes on, according to the script, to say that he still dislikes gays and that his perceptions about Shepard's sex life bolstered his belief that the killing was justified.

The epilogue addresses the widely publicized lie from the Christian right that Shepard's murder was motivated by drugs, not his gayness.

The Shepards On The Hate Crimes Act

Today U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to move immediately on the hate crimes bill. The bill is reportedly going to be attached to a defense appropriations bill, a tactic which failed the last time it was attempted.