Northern Colorado Equality hosting a candlelight vigil for Matthew Shepard

On October 6, 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was beaten, tortured, and left for dead near Laramie, Wyoming. Six days later, he died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins from severe head injuries.

It was a hate crime. During the trials of the two men who were arrested for the murder, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, McKinney’s girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentiment. She later recanted her statement, saying that she had lied because she thought it would help him. McKinney’s prosecutor argued the murder was premeditated and driven by greed, while McKinney’s defense counsel argued that McKinney only intended to rob Shepard, but killed him in a rage after Shepard made a sexual advance. Both men were charged with murder, receiving two consecutive life sentences.

The case garnered national attention, more specifically on hate crime legislation. On October 28, 2009, more than 11 years after the attack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act expanding the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

This Sunday night, the Northern Colorado Equality is hosting a candlelight memorial vigil for Shepard at University of Colorado Health’s Lemay Campus. Join them as the remember the sacrifices Shepard, and countless others before and since, have made, and to find solidarity and resolve in the unrelenting quest for justice and equality.

Join the Northern Colorado Equality at at 7:00PM, at UCH, 1024 S. Lemay Ave., in Fort Collins. Allies are welcome, and attendees should bring candles if they can.