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'''Judy Shepard ([[née]] ''Peck'''; born 1952) is the mother of [[Matthew Shepard]], a 21-year-old student at [[University of Wyoming]] whom was murdered because he was [[homosexuality|gay]]. She and her husband are co-founders of the [[Matthew Shepard Foundation]], and an advocate for [[gay rights activist|LGBT-rights]]. |
'''Judy Shepard''' ([[née]] '''Peck'''; born 1952) is the mother of [[Matthew Shepard]], a 21-year-old student at [[University of Wyoming]] whom was murdered because he was [[homosexuality|gay]]. She and her husband are co-founders of the [[Matthew Shepard Foundation]], and an advocate for [[gay rights activist|LGBT-rights]]. |
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== Personal life == |
== Personal life == |
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Revision as of 04:05, 23 December 2009
Judy Shepard | |
|---|---|
 Judy Shepard on June 13, 2009 | |
| Born | 1952 |
| Occupation(s) | Board President - Matthew Shepard Foundation (1999-present) Executive Director - Matthew Shepard Foundation (1999-2009) LGBT-rights activist |
Judy Shepard (née Peck; born 1952) is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming whom was murdered because he was gay. She and her husband are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and an advocate for LGBT-rights.
Personal life
Judy Shepard and her husband, Dennis Shepard, have lived in Casper, Wyoming since their marriage in 1975.[1] Judy is the mother of two sons, Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976-1998) and Logan Shepard (born 1981).[2][3]
Activism
On the night of October 6, 1998, Judy's older son Matthew was beaten and pistol whipped in Laramie, Wyoming because he was gay. Matthew Shepard died six days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado on October 12, 1998 at age 21. In response, Judy Shepard created the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The foundation's purpose is to advance "social justice, diversity awareness and education, and equality for homosexual, bisexual and trans-sexual people".[1]
She is the founding president of the Foundation's Board of Directors, and served as the first executive director from 1999 to 2009. On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (H.R. 1592), a bill which would expand federal hate-crimes legislation to include sexual orientation, was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors. Judy and her husband Dennis were present at the introduction ceremony. That bill did not pass however, after then-President George W. Bush threatened to veto the bill if it passed.
As of 2009, she is still board president of the foundation, and as a result she travels across the United States speaking to different audiences. In 2009, she published a memoir, The Meaning of Matthew[4] about how her family dealt with his murder, the subsequent court cases, the media coverage, and their work to advance civil rights over the last decade.[1]
In May 2009, Shepard met with President Barack Obama, where he promised her he would help pass the Matthew Shepard Act.[5] There was controversy later that month, when the Matthew Shepard Act was being debated in the House of Representatives, and while Judy Shepard was in the audience, Representative Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., called the murder of Matthew Shepard a "hoax", a statement which she later apologized for.[6]
On October 11, 2009, she addressed a rally for LGBT rights in the United States Capitol, at the National Equality March, saying "I'm here today because I lost my son to hate.... No one has the right to tell my son whether or not he can work anywhere. Whether or not he can live wherever he wants to live and whether or not he can be with the one person he loves -- no one has that right. We are all Americans. We are all equal Americans, gay, straight or whatever"[7] On the Saturday night before, President Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign in the Capitol and mentioned his promise to Judy Shepard in the Oval Office, in his reassertion of his commitment to pass legislation important to the LGBT community.[8]
On October 22, 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard Act, and on October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the legislation into law.
Bibliography
- Shepard, Judy (2009), The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed , Hudson Street Press. ISBN 1594630577
References
- ^ a b c Judy Shepard Bio, Matthew Shepard Foundation, accessed October 12, 2009
- ^ At his brother’s ‘Place’: Logan Shepard, brother of Matthew, debuts blog and goes to work for family’s foundation, Washington Blade, Katherine Volin, April 11, 2008
- ^ Matthew Shepard FAQ, Matthew Shepard Foundation
- ^ Matthew Shepard's Murder Made His Mom An Activist, Lansing State Journal, Steve Rothaus, October 11, 2009
- ^ Judy Shepard Meets With Obama, The Advocate, May 20, 2009
- ^ Judy Shepard rejects Rep. Foxx's apology, MSNBC, May 1, 2009
- ^ 'Obama, I know you are listening': Gay rights activists march in D.C., CNN, October 12, 2009
- ^ The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later Premiere, TimeOut Chicago, October 13, 2009