The Passion of Matthew Shepard
Covered with blood,
save where the tears ran down,
that's how the officer who found him
described him.
More scarecrow than human.
Hung on a cross.
Left to die.
Despised.
Rejected.
The object of ridicule, oppression and hate.
The Passion of Matthew.
Another echoe from the book of Isaiah.
Another victim of hate.
Dear Lord, how long ?
Matthew Shepard
December 1st 1976 - October 12th 1998
From the newspapers Monday October 12, 1998
Matthew ShepardGay Wyoming College Student Dies After Beating
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Reuters) - A University of Wyoming student savagely beaten in an apparent hate crime because he was gay died early Monday, a Colorado hospital said. Matthew was a member and also an acolyte in St. Mark's Episcopal Church.
Matthew had been lured from a campus bar shortly after midnight on October 7 by two men who told him they were gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills neighborhood east of Laramie, tied to a split-rail fence, tortured, beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, while he begged for his life; he was then left for dead in near freezing temperatures. A cyclist who found him on Snowy Mountain View Road at 6:22 pm, some 18 hours after the attack, at first mistook him for a scarecrow. He was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. His face was caked with blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by tears.
Matthew died at 12:53 am on Monday 12th October 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his family at his bedside. Hospital officials said Matthew had a fracture from behind his head to just in front of his right ear and a massive brain stem injury which affected his vital signs, including his heart beat, body temperature and other involuntary functions. There were also approximately a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. He was so badly injured in the attack that doctors were unable to operate. He never regained consciousness after being found, and remained on full life support.
The attack on Shepard, who reportedly lived an openly gay life, was condemned by President Clinton and the governor of Wyoming as well as ordinary citizens who appeared at vigils in honor of the student. The hospital had been flooded with flowers and messages from people came from around the world and were in the thousands.
Prayer
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted with grief,
my soul and body also.
Strong, as I am, I stumble because of my inequality,
and my bones waste away.
I am the scorn of my adversaries,
a horror to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
when they see me in the street they turn quickly away.
I have passed out of mind
like one who is dead;
I have come to be like something lost.
Yea, I hear many whispering
-terror on every side! -
as they scheme together against me,
to take my life.
But I trust in thee, O Lord,
I say, "Thou art my God."
Rescue me from those who persecute me!
I will rejoice and be glad for thy unfailing love,
because thou hast cared for me in my distress
and thou hast not abandoned me
but hast set me free.
A rereading from Psalm 31
This page is dedicated to the memory of all the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual people who are injured, haunted, imprisoned,
hurt or murdered because of their gender or sexuality.NEVER GIVE UP LOVING
NEVER GIVE UP BELIEVING
BE WHO YOU ARE
