The second night of the Democratic National Convention had some major appearances, including the parents of late Matthew Shepard, Judy and Dennis Shepard, representing their home state of Wyoming.
The Shepards represented Wyoming During the program’s virtual roll call, as representatives from 57 states and territories cast their votes for Joe Biden to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
“After our son Matthew’s death in Wyoming, Joe Biden helped pass the legislation to protect LGBTQ Americans from hate crimes,” said Dennis. “Joe understands more than most our grief over Matt’s death. But, we see in Joe so much of what made Matt’s life special: his commitment to equality, his passion for social justice, and his compassion for others.”
Wyoming cast four votes for Bernie Sanders and 11 votes for Biden.
It has been 22 years since Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and left to die tied to a split-rail wood fence in Laramie, Wyoming. His death sparked a national conversation about toxic homophobia and hate crimes in this country.
Matthew’s parents were spurred on to become activists, founding the Matthew Shepard Foundation and helping to get the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act signed by President Obama in 2009. The two were honored as Logo Trailblazers in 2015.
In 2018 Shepard’s ashes were placed in a niche in the crypt columbarium, a private, off-limits area on the lower level of the Washington National Cathedral. Shepherd will be one of around 200 people interred at the cathedral in the last century, including President Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller.
Honoring their son 20 years after his death in 2018, Judy Shepard was interviewed by OUT FRONT. At the time, she stated, “Everybody grieves in their own way, and families need to take care of themselves first. Not everyone will want to become public figures or talk about the issues and how it will affect them. We want them to take care of themselves and their family needs first then consider what they can do to help others.”
The life of Matthew Shepard has been shared all over the country and continues to be performed as a theatre production in schools across the states.
Watch Judy and Dennis Shepard’s appearance in the DNC’s virtual roll call in the video here.
