Photo by Sarah Fuller
JORDAN PATTERSON
Staff Writer
Seventeen years ago, Matthew Shepard was murdered because he was gay. On March 3, his mother Judy Shepard stood in front of yet another audience and attempted to explain what had happened. For the next hour and a half, Judy Shepard would once again have to re-live the death of her son.
The brightly lit King Concert Hall was full of Fredonia students, faculty, Fredonia locals and even high school students that welcomed Judy Shepard with applause. She took the podium and broke the silence with a few cracks about the weather and how long she has been delivering speeches.
“I’m sure I must be competing with some sports event on TV… actually now that I say this it’s probably Netflix and not TV,” said Shepard.
Audience members laughed, but it was short lived because standing before them was a mother who had come to talk about the loss of one of her sons.
Prior to Judy Shepard’s entry, there was a brief introduction from President Virginia Horvath and Chief Diversity Officer and Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Bill Boerner.
Horvath briefed the audience before Shepard’s speech and underlined the importance of what was happening.
“It would be nice to think that it’s a historic presentation … the subject that she talks about couldn’t be more prevalent in our society today,” said Horvath. “I look forward to hearing her message and hearing how she can help us to be advocates, standing on the side of love instead of on the side of hate.”
Boerner took the stage and gave thanks to every individual involved with bringing Judy Shepard to Fredonia. After several rounds of applause, he talked about the impact that Matthew Shepard’s death had on his life.
“In 1998, I was actually still an undergraduate college student and as the nation mourned the loss of Matthew Shepard and there was a storm that happened in the media around LGBT rights — I was also feeling that myself,” said Boerner. “As a young adult grappling with my own sexual orientation, this was a terrifying time in our nation and in my own life,” Boerner added.
Judy Shepard started by telling the crowd she was from Wyoming, the largest state but lowest in population.
“We have more sheep than people,” said Judy Shepard.
The concert hall laughed again. Judy Shepard was seemingly breaking the crowd down with humor before she entered into the real reason she was there. After she complimented everything she loves about Wyoming, from the sight of the sky to the smell of the environment, she admitted she doesn’t completely agree with the way the political system is set up in her home state.
“That is a challenge, but that is one of the reasons why my husband says we stay there is to remind them that they have work to do,” said Shepard.
Shepard then read her victim impact statement that she read to the court on the day the two men who murdered her son were sentenced. The audience journeyed with her to the hardest time of Judy Shepard’s life. The statement was filled with descriptive accounts of the day she and her husband received the phone call informing her that her son was in a coma.
Shepard continued explaining that while she doesn’t forgive the two convicted men, a feat she has yet to be asked to do, she doesn’t blame them. She blames the society that allowed them to think it was OK to do what they did.
“We have become a S.I.C society… silent, indifferent and complacent,” said Shepard.
“For all who ask what they can do for Matt and other victims of hate and a hate crime my answer is this: educate, educate, educate,” Shepard added. “Bring understanding where you see hate and ignorance, bring light where you see darkness, bring freedom where there is fear and begin to heal.”