00:00It never gets easier over time, it just, it just gets, uh...
00:11The only thing that gets easier over time is to talk about Matt,
00:17and to talk about some of the issues around Matt,
00:21and all marginalized communities and discrimination.
00:24It's never easy knowing that you've lost your son
00:28because he was considered different.
00:30What I want people to remember the most about Matt, Matt's legacy,
00:33that he was a human being.
00:35He had fears and flaws and joy, um, sorrow.
00:41He was just trying to live his life, just like we all do.
00:44Um, and that was, he wasn't given that opportunity.
00:48Good morning, everybody. A terrible turn in a terrible storm.
00:52It's really tragic and so disturbing.
00:54Matthew Shepard was beaten last weekend, tied to a wooden fence
00:57by two men who met Shepard in a bar in Laramie.
01:00Police say Shepard was lured from this Laramie night spot.
01:04He was later robbed, beaten, and left for dead,
01:07tied to this fence post outside of town.
01:11Matt loved the church. He was, he loved Sunday school.
01:15He was an acolyte, while Judy was a Sunday school teacher
01:19and on the altar guilds.
01:21I'm expecting it to be pretty hard, really, for me.
01:24Um, knowing everybody in the room is also, uh,
01:29it's going to be pretty hard for me.
01:31It's going to be pretty hard for me.
01:33It's going to be pretty hard for me.
01:35It's going to be pretty hard for me.
01:37Um, knowing everybody in the room is also, uh, there.
01:42Today, on the University of Wyoming campus,
01:45there were armbands and mourning
01:48for a student whose death has focused national attention
01:51on hate and violence.
01:53I am so pissed off.
01:59Matt was, uh, still in the hospital.
02:03We had a little bit of hope, still,
02:05but we began to receive a lot of correspondence requests,
02:08really, from parents of, uh, of gay kids
02:12and friends and family, really, of the gay community,
02:15wanting us to use our voice to try to make people understand
02:18that the gay community is just people like everybody else.
02:21The only difference is they love them some different,
02:23and why do you care?
02:24We were accepting parents who loved Matt
02:26and who lost him to a terrible act of violence,
02:29but other folks still had their children
02:31and they should welcome them back into their family.
02:52Being able to do this, to be able to speak
02:54and feel like I'm still part of Matt's family,
02:57his community, his peers,
02:59and really part of Matt's life,
03:01this was my survival,
03:03giving me a reason to get up every day to do the work,
03:06and it's been very gratifying.
03:08It keeps Matt still with me.
03:30I know he'd be thrilled that there was marriage,
03:32and it was a discussion he and I had had in the summer of 98
03:36when Hawaii was considering same-sex marriage,
03:39and he questioned whether or not that would ever happen.
03:42I know he would be thrilled with everything
03:44that has moved forward and very distressed
03:46at what's happening right now.
03:48I will faithfully execute...
03:50the office of President of the United States...
03:53the office of President of the United States...
03:56the office of President of the United States...
03:59Well, it's really frustrating to see what's happening now
04:02in the current administration.
04:04They're taking great steps,
04:06and I think even great pride in removing protections
04:10that had been put in place by the Obama administration
04:15in all the federal agencies,
04:17even challenging them in the military now.
04:20It's appalling.
04:22We are the country of freedom, equal rights,
04:27and encouragement to make yourself better,
04:32and we're going the other direction.
04:35If you're not straight, Christian, white,
04:38especially white male in this country now,
04:42you are considered marginalized.
04:53Now it's our primary focus
04:55because hate crimes have increased in number,
04:59and reporting is not happening in equal numbers
05:04because people are afraid.
05:06They're afraid to be re-victimized by law enforcement
05:09or retaliation when they report a crime.
05:12For the LGBTQ community,
05:14what we're trying to do is make sure
05:16that we have the right people
05:19For the LGBTQ community,
05:21why would you report a hate crime
05:23in one of 30 states where you'd still be fired
05:26for being LGBTQ?
05:28Because gay rights is a buzzword,
05:30buzz term to upset people
05:32that somebody's getting something special.
05:34What we're talking about here
05:36are equal rights for American citizens.
05:40We have a straight son and a gay son,
05:42and yet they're not considered equal.
05:44And as a father and as an American citizen,
05:47I am appalled and outraged
05:49that there are few who are trying to make themselves
05:53rise up above everybody else
05:56who's also an American citizen.
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