Rest in Peace, Matthew…
You will be remembered…
I’ve always loved to attend services at Washington National Cathedral. It warmly and sincerely welcomes all comers, as a national church should, particularly in these times. I wish this country could take a collective decision to let people be who they are and achieve self-fulfillment in whatever way they feel is best. Rest in peace, Matthew.
One of the most heart-wrenching crimes in my lifetime.
I saw an interview with Mr. and Mrs. Shepard yesterday about this. The father said something to the effect of he had a straight son and a gay son and he wondered how anyone could justify that one child should have more rights than the other.
I think that best illuminates the shortcomings in the thinking of those that would like for an inequality to be perpetrated. Choose which child to do it to. Choose which of your own children is deserving of less than the others.
Though his life was so brutally cut short, Matthew Shepard helped change the world in ways he may not have been able to imagine. The cowardly savages who took his life only managed to awaken the nation and the world to the inevitable realization that the bigots and haters of the world are the ones who are destined to be banished from society. It will take a very long time, and there are many steps backward such as those being foisted upon us now by the dangerous and illegal Trump “administration,” but in the end those who killed Matthew will be the ones reviled and cast out. The arc of justice is a very long one, and I have never been as discouraged as I am now given the ongoing Trump disaster in Washington. But we’ve come a long, long way since Matthew’s life was stolen from him, and we will slowly but surely keep making progress. Rest in peace Matthew.
This service was an island of love in the seas of intolerance and hatred in the current political climate we find ourselves in. May it be a lesson.
Well done. The National Cathedral truly lived up to its name. Rest In Peace, and peace to Matthew’s family and friends.
And thanks for the AP style that has to cite police saying he was killed because he was gay. In the current atmosphere I expect an attack on the cathedral.
RIP, sweet Matthew.