Original subtitles

[wind blowing]

[somber music playing]

[A student of the from wyoming

was riding your mountain bike

and falls,

look up,

see what you believe it's a scarecrow

or a joke, just for halloween

around the corner, which, of course,

This was at the beginning of October,

and comes to investigate,

and of course he was horrified for what he found.

[Rosie O'Donnell] I still can see its description,

the biker who found him

and thought it was a scarecrow...

of the deer,

What was he doing to you? company all night,

and when it was found,

The deer got up and fled.

There is only one...

a feeling of divinity around him.

There is a feeling of an angelic presence.

[This is a child... who was loved and adored,

and in every way, more or less, the boy next door.

This is a sign of rage, something very personal,

something very scary about that.

How cold it must have been tied to that fence

and was not found for 18 hours,

and stay alive.

[distant siren hooting]

[Beck] Then they took him to Ivinson Memorial Hospital,

What is the local hospital? Local Laramie

to try to see what they could do.

[It was a mystery for the officers,

Okay, “Who is this person?

"Who is Matthew Shepard?"

[somber music playing]

"Hello, mom, I am writing to greet you.

How is everything going?

I've been fine, a little nostalgic.

You have problems in the rhythm of things,

but it won't last long, wait.

I have been very depressed and I think it's a disappointment.

I came back and time It was horrible,

and I miss my home.

I miss you.

Love, Matt."

[Eric Marcus] Matthew Wayne Shepard was born was born on December 1, 1976.

And although He was a little guy,

He had a great personality.

Matthew was a very emotional child, very empathetic.

[Judy speaks]

[man chuckling]

My name is Jim Osborn,

and he was a friend by Matthew Shepard.

The first thing What I noticed about Matt

It's his smile.

He just had this amazing radiant smile.

My name is Romaine Patterson,

and I was a friend with Matthew Shepard.

I loved his laugh.

I liked his smile better.

He had a big smile.

He smiled.

[Adam Lambert] He was young.

It seemed a sweet and innocent boy.

He seemed like a good boy.

[It wasn't just his mouth.

His eyes lit up

and twinkle or shine before you,

and it was as if if his whole body smiled at you.

Wyoming is like a sleepy little town.

the entire state It is a small city of dreams.

We are the state town of the Union.

We are a species of our own little galaxy here.

We are geographically huge.

We are the tenth state of the country,

but we have the smallest population.

In 1998, although we are seeing Will and Grace,

we are the most conservative state conservative of America.

[Growing in the 70s and 80s,

You couldn't be different.

It was a kind of place where,

if you were a stereotypical cowboy,

working on an oil rig, you would fit in

But it wasn't like growing up in New York

or any of the major cities of the country.

Unfortunately, the word "faggot"

It was kind of go-to.

regardless that had something to do with it

with your sexuality or not, that was just a word

which was used to describe like a loser

or you as different.

[I'm from Nebraska,

and I graduated at the institute in 1987.

Although we were...

You know, Matthew and I lived in very different cities

but it seemed was a child that very easily

I would have been a friend of, I could have friends.

looked like someone that many of us knew.

He seemed like your friend at the institute

who was probably gay.

[Patterson] It can't be denied

that Matthew was gay and he knew it.

Like, if you looked to Mateo,

you saw a gay man.

There was no...

There wasn't even an ounce straight there.

In 1993, when matthew was finishing

his second year high school,

his father got a job in an oil company

in Saudi Arabia.

When Matthew's family started to move to Saudi Arabia,

Matthew settled in a in Switzerland.

[So, in the second semester of his last year,

he went with some friends to Morocco.

Morocco at that time, it wasn't maybe

the tourist destination what is today

and it was not known for being particularly safe.

[My understanding of what happened in Morocco

was that in one particular night,

Matthew wanted to go out and see things.

He didn't think, "Oh, I should go out

with a group of people in a place that "I don't know."

He simply decided, "I'm going out.

I'm going to leave the hotel.

I'm going for a walk. "I'm going to see the stores."

Things like that. That's something what he would have done.

And while I was away, was kidnapped.

[In Morocco, a couple of men took Matthew

to an isolated place and they raped him.

Then, the idea that a young gay

is raped by a group of adult men,

people couldn't even understand that kind of thing.

And so, Matthew returned to the hotel,

you already know, He immediately told the people.

[Their parents were contacted,

the police were notified

but they never found to the attackers.

It was a random attack.

They had no idea who had done it.

After the attack, Matthew changed.

He wasn't himself.

I think what happened is that he lost his sense

of security in the world.

[Liam Cudmore] Being assaulted It is a traumatizing experience.

Traumas have lasting impacts

in someone's development,

their social development, their emotional development,

your spiritual development,

and the people who suffered trauma

they run the risk of having suicidal tendencies,

have poor mental health such as depression and anxiety.

In 1995, Matthew graduated at the institute,

returned to the United States,

and decided coming out to his mother.

[I definitely think that Matt felt comfortable

on your skin and he felt comfortable being outside.

[Marcus] In the early 90s,

good things are happening in the cultural world,

with more representation with homosexuals.

How many lawyers did you go to? before you call me?

Nine.

are you trying get rid of it because he's gay.

I had not reached to accept my sexuality until 1984, 95.

And then, yes,

Ellen DeGeneres is a thing.

I'm gay.

At the end of the 90s, there was a great kind of boom for gay people.

There was more representation on television.

Ellen was out.

people fell in love from Jack in Will and Grace,

an open character openly gay.

a question sexual orientation?

The doctor is inside.

I think middle America It was getting more comfortable,

you know, with the idea that there are gay people

out there and what are they normal people.

And I think that gave Matthew the feeling of security

that I was not alone and that in fact he was safe.

[Marks] Matthew later bounced

to different places.

Finally ended up back in Casper, Wyoming,

his hometown.

[Patterson] I went to my first year of university

at Casper College in Casper, Wyoming.

I got to know one from campus instructors.

He called me one day and he told me,

"Today I received a strange call from a therapist.

And he has a client, and you would like present to your client

to other young homosexuals.

"Can I send it to you?"

And I said, "Okay. Sure. Why not?"

And it's this clumsy young man named Matthew.

He's like, "I'm trying to meet new people

here in Casper who are also gay.

and he was super handsome, but we take him under our protection

and we were like, "Listen, Now you're one of us."

I think depression It was a real problem for Matthew.

I think it was a manic depressive

so sometimes it was super super high

and things were amazing.

["February 23, 1998.

I put the Cherry Creek to shame tonight.

I walked in my humble cute

It was fun.

I really have won a lot of comfort here."

[And then, There were times when things

They were literally the opposite,

where I couldn't have been lower for him.

[Rannells] "It's happened long time since I have written a diary,

but now I understand why.

"I'm so depressed."

[I think that Matthew really try to address

personal traumas that he had suffered.

He treated them the best that could,

where he didn't feel bad with himself,

he didn't blame himself for the things

that had happened in Morocco.

And I was always, you know,

trying to find that happy balance.

[Rannells] "I'm going to call home tonight and say hello to my mom and dad.

I miss my family a lot.

They are very important to me.

I wish I could see them more often."

That spring, Matthew announced that he was going to

to move to Laramie, Wyoming,

and in May he took the step.

He enrolled at the University of Wyoming,

which is where his parents They had gone to school.

Mathew was quite happy in Laramie.

Inside the red state, this university town

It was a kind of liberal enclave, So while he was there,

met like-minded people,

was connecting with friends,

and it's also where he met Jim Osborn.

I saw it almost every day

against the Union, and there it was,

usually watching people,

always with hair like that

and polished,

you already know, always making sure

that anyone I talked to, I was very focused on them

and was very present in that conversation.

It always seemed have a lot of confidence

and it was definitely outgoing and pleasant.

I never doubted "This boy is going to score the difference."

[tense music playing]

[So, Tuesday night,

Matt came to the LGBTA meeting.

we had been putting final plans

about all acts of Gay Awareness Week.

And then, as we did most weeks after the meeting,

we all agree, let's go out for,

you know, dinner and something to drink afterwards.

And so we did it.

And after being there a while at the Village Inn,

said, "Okay. Well, I'm not going home yet. "

And later we found out that ended

next to the fire

[I can only imagine that Matthew felt

perfectly safe walking at the Fireside Lounge.

It's a place where he had been before.

I knew the waiter.

I had no reason to looking over your shoulder

and thinking that someone I was going to hurt him.

[The Fireside It wasn't a gay bar,

but without a doubt a bar where gay people

I went from time to time

because we didn't have a designated gay bar

in the State.

Most of us had a bar or two those we could go out to

and feel relatively safe.

He had been to the Fireside.

It wasn't anything special.

Matt says who saw Matthew Shepard

leaving the bar with two men.

Although he did not see their faces when leaving,

trust that those two men

They were the same ones who paid with coins their jugs,

because he didn't see to those guys out there after that.

[distant dog barking]

[object whistling]

[Brands] Little after midnight

in a neighborhood just north of the city,

a resident wakes up and hears a whistle.

So it comes out to investigate.

What you find is that Your tire has been slashed.

[police radio chattering indistinctly]

Call the police. That's around 12:40 a.m.,

and lets them know that he believes that someone has punctured his tire.

At that moment, the officer It was about four blocks away.

from the house where the tires were cracked,

see two guys behaving a little strange

in this Ford truck black.

And they're sitting there and they don't move.

[It's good after midnight,

there is not much people out there.

is looking for people

that just clicked someone's tire.

[Beck] And so he shines a light on them,

He announces that he is the police.

He thought there might be been the suspects

in tire failure.

[Russell Henderson was someone

who came from a family

that had been in Laramie a long time.

From what they say, He was a pretty good boy.

until the end of adolescence.

He was an Eagle Scout.

was raised for his grandmother.

His mother had some problems.

[Brands] While I was alive with his grandmother,

I was dating a student from wyoming

named Chastity Paisley.

[Beck] And there's blood in it.

So the officer he asks Henderson,

What happened to your left?

He tells the officer quite a confusing story.

Russell says they were assaulted by two men

who describes like a white guy and a hispanic guy,

and that they had been beaten Pretty bad for them.

Russell said than the other two types,

the white and the Hispanic They had fled.

So they ask him, “Okay, who were you with?

Because we think that you are involved in some of this vandalism

that we have heard about in the area."

It seems that Russell he is telling the police officer

that was not involved in the tire puncture.

He won't say anyone's names, including type

to whom the officer just seen flee.

Russell was hesitating to tell the officer

Who owned the truck?

And finally he says, "Well, I was with Aaron McKinney."

Aaron McKinney was a young man

who had grown up in Laramie.

His parents were divorced.

Anderson met Aaron McKinney at some point

and they were roofers together.

Aaron McKinney I was dating someone named Kristen Price,

and the two had had a baby together.

Aaron's mother had died a few years before,

actually due to complications of a hysterectomy.

And that's actually led him to inherit enough money

due to a policy life,

and unfortunately,

used a lot of that money on drugs

and bad behavior.

[In the early 90s, crystal methamphetamine

came to wyoming in a big way.

For someone like Aaron McKinney

who considered himself like a bad boy to begin with

and he had money in his pocket to burn,

It's not that surprising that it would end

becoming one of the army of people

who became addicted to methamphetamine.

[Beck] So the officer keep talking

to Russell Henderson and he says,

Aaron McKinney broke down

with a stick or something when they were attacked.

And Russell Henderson,

he has a cut on his lip

and there is blood in it.

Therefore, the official also emits

the descriptions of the men that Russell

told him, this white guy

and the hispanic guy who allegedly assaulted them.

Right now everyone thinks that those two men

could be responsible just for vandalizing the tire,

but also for attacking Russell and Aaron,

both of which They were quite badly injured.

And so when they finished your conversation,

Henderson goes in an ambulance

to Ivinson Memorial Hospital.

The officer takes a look to the truck...

and see many things out of the truck that seemed strange.

[Beck] There is a really bloody weapon.

What is all this? What has happened here?

and they are absolutely baffled for what happened here.

Initially, they think it's just a fight

in a residential area,

but there is something else and they know it.

So they're processing out of the truck,

They are doing blood smears.

And of course, this gun in the bed of the truck is available to them,

so they take it away,

and it's covered of blood.

[Trademarks] Under federal law, there is an exception

to the rule that it is necessary a search warrant,

which is called the doctrine of clear sight.

If an agent sees a possible test

in view of everyone, they are allowed take that evidence,

preserve that evidence,

in case there has been a crime has been committed.

[Beck] And then, look in the cabin

and see this pair of shoes nice pair of shoes,

that seem out of place,

because they don't seem of the type

that these guys would have.

[tense music playing]

[Beck] So what's interesting is that you have

some people from Laramie Police Department

listening the radio call.

When the helper Fluty, from Albany County

The sheriff's deputy calls from the fence and said,

"We have the student card

with the name by Matthew Shepard."

the ears of some police detectives.

[Just at this time,

the police continue looking for Aaron McKinney.

They go home... He's not there.

Finally, Kristen Price,

who was Aaron McKinney's girlfriend by Aaron McKinney,

called the police and said that Aaron I was very beaten,

and now He is in the hospital.

[Aaron was injured pretty bad for the assault

the night before between the white boy

and the Hispanic boy,

and had to be transferred from the local hospital

to Poudre Valley so that his head injury.

[The police were guests by Kristen Price

to come interview him.

They talk to him briefly

a little and I asked him about the incident.

So they started asking McKinney on the truck

and said, "Oh, well, that they robbed us

when we went out last night."

And he said he had been assaulted by a couple of people

and they broke it in the head.

[Marks] While the officers are interviewing Aaron McKinney

in the hospital, they received the news

that Matthew has been found on the outskirts of the city

and is being carried to the same hospital.

When the doctors there see it,

they are doing what they can to try to revive it.

The hospital contacted with his parents,

that were still in Saudi Arabia.

They started the process of returning home

as fast as they could.

[Beck] They realized immediately,

"We cannot take care of him here."

So there is a hospital in Fort Collins

called Poudre Valley Hospital

which deals with head injuries.

So they realized right away,

"We have to take it to that hospital."

[siren hooting]

[tense music playing]

[The first time I found out about what had happened to Matt,

I received an email from a common friend,

the same friend that he had presented to us.

and let me know that Matt had been attacked

and that was in the hospital.

let me know that your prognosis

It wasn't good.

[Patterson] There was a shock, there was fear.

There was a feeling of anguish feeling you had

because you knew that you couldn't do anything.

So kind of waited out.

[The first hours They were honestly pretty scary

For me and for most the members of the group,

because we didn't know who had done this.

For me, it was unmistakable

that this had to be about hate.

[So, law enforcement now start interviewing persons of interest

about Matthew's attack.

The police bring in Russell,

Chastity Paisley, who was Russell's girlfriend,

and Kristen at the station

and try and do interviews with them.

Russell Henderson He's not talking, so...

"Advocacy" is the term they use,

will wait to a lawyer.

Chastity Paisley explains that,

"Oh, well, I really "I don't know anything."

Kristen Price I had a little one at the time.

and had no interest to be arrested

or something happens to him her.

And he told him,

"I think that that I killed someone tonight."

He explained that he and Russell Henderson

They were at the Fireside bar

where did they see someone that he was gay

and it seemed I had money.

Kristen tells him,

they came up with a plan that they would pretend

who are gay and they will try

and get him to go with them

and they will rob you.

And in the end, decided to go with them

and they left the Fireside bar.

[After Aaron tell him what happened,

goes to the bathroom to clean up.

She looks and sees it washing a bloody purse.

Then Aaron took the wallet, he put her in a dirty diaper

and threw it in the trash.

[Kristen says Chastity and Russell

come and discussed the events of the night,

They realized that it was better to get rid of some of his tests,

better get rid of his clothes.

[Beck] Clothes they didn't get rid of

They were Russell's shoes,

that were very expensive

and I had just bought them,

and they hid them in a shed somewhere else.

law enforcement go to the place

and after a little searching

find the shoes They were covered in blood.

They are going to McKinney House

where they find their clothes,

they are bloody and then in the dirty diaper find the wallet

what has driving license

of Matthew Shepard in it.

At the end of the afternoon,

all three were arrested

in relation to what It happened to Matthew Shepard.

At that time, I was the news director

on Wyoming Public Radio.

I was also teaching that semester

at the University of Wyoming.

I had a student who was in my class

and called me that morning

and he told me he wasn't going I was going to be able to come to class that day

because something bad had happened to him to a friend of his.

And I'm like, "Are you kidding me?"

What has happened?

He goes, "Oh, you're going to hear about this.

This is a really terrible thing.

It's going to be news for you."

[reporter 1] Matthew Shepard...

[reporter 2] Matthew Shepard...

[reporter 3] Matthew Shepard...

[reporter 4] Matthew Shepard...

[You already know, on public radio,

we don't have the scanner like television networks

or the newspapers.

We don't do much of those everyday crime things.

but I had someone That morning he told me,

"Wow, the scanner It was really going last night. "

Something was happening.

There is something what happened on the outskirts of the city.

so i called to the sheriff's office

and they didn't say nothing, but they said,

"We are going to have a press conference at 3:00."

That afternoon, we were there.

Of course, there may have been

another radio station there,

and then I remember that some local televisions

and some television channels from Denver were there.

[During the press conference, Sheriff Gary Puls

commented for the first time about Matthew's attack.

He also announced the charges against Russell Henderson,

Kristen Price and Chastity Paisley.

[Aaron McKinney had not been charged until now,

but they told us that we know where it is

and we will be accusing him shortly.

The sheriff made it very clear to us

what I thought that this incident occurred

because Matthew Shepard He was gay.

In 1998, the wyoming legislature

They are mostly retired ranchers,

You know, old white men.

we didn't have hate crime legislation.

Approve any hate crimes

it would be like putting a seal of approval

and saying "This is true,

This is who we are."

And it was just an obstacle that they could not overcome.

[Beck] From that moment on,

never ever I have never heard a member of law enforcement

Call it a hate crime.

This was a local crime.

It didn't seem to me that this was something

the national news they would be interested.

[dramatic music playing]

[Aaron McKinney had also been transferred

to Poudre Valley Hospital in colorado

as well as Matthew Shepard.

The police waited was released,

and as soon as as soon as he was released,

agreed to be extradited back to Wyoming.

[tense music playing]

[Well, basically said,

"Yes, it happened and...

But this is what happened."

They are going around and then like that to go to the Fireside.

And they are really short of cash.

And they're using quarters,

five and dime coins to buy a mug of beer,

when you see this another person approach them.

[Beck] And they plot this plan where they are gay

and they will try and they will get to go with them.

[Brands] They leave the bar and they get on the truck,

what is Aaron's father's truck.

Matthew is high between them in the seat,

interspersed among them, really, and Russell's driving.

[Beck] He was holding a gun then,

because they were, you know, telling him that was going to be stolen,

and then aaron He took his wallet.

[Aaron has his gun.

It just doesn't make sense that Matthew

would feel emboldened to insinuate

Aaron McKinney started to hit him with a weapon.

It hit him in the face.

He just hit him.

He explained that Russell took them to the site,

and then Russell tied him up.

And then Aaron He started hitting him...

And he hit him and hit him.

[I'm sure I was terrified.

I imagine you would be confused too

how could a scenario just leaving the bar

with someone climb so quick to this.

[Beck] It really happened of a situation

where it sounded what they intended to do was rob the young man,

and just like that, became something really catastrophic.

Aaron basically was unleashed on Matthew.

He beat him brutally and repeatedly.

Aaron admitted that he simply like he went into anger.

started to hit him and hit him and to hit him.

And then Aaron picked up his shoes.

[Marks] Aaron tells him to the police after finishing

hitting Matthew, assumed Matthew was dead.

He and Russell jumped again to the truck,

drove back to town,

potentially to get rid of the weapon,

and they fought.

There is something of ironic parallelism

in the fact that Aaron

it had just ended brutally hit someone

and came to the city

and then his head opened open.

What in that interview that appears

is that it was actually a little indifferent.

[man speaking]

[And then the interview was done,

was charged with attempted first degree murder,

kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.

[tense music playing]

a student college student beaten and abandoned to his fate

clings to life in wyoming this morning.

[I know that practically no one in laramie

or in the state of Wyoming they had no idea

the media storm that was about to fall on them,

or what sense would it have would touch on the story of Matthew

then moment in history.

[speaker 1] Matthew Shepard.

[speaker 2] Matthew Shepard.

[speaker 3] Matthew Shepard.

[speaker 4] Matthew Shepard.

[In the hours after Matthew was found,

people learned the name of Matthew Shepard.

became national.

[It was a horrifying discovery on this fence,

a gay man barely alive tonight

in a coma, with brain damage.

[It was everywhere.

It appeared in all the newspapers. It was on the news.

Everyone is like looking and listening

and hoping he lived.

Not in my wildest dreams I would wait

that the New York Times and Newsweek,

and CBS, ABC, NBC,

CNN, all those people they would be appearing

in my community in about 24 hours.

I had never seen it.

[A couple of things were happening

in the hours after Matthew was found.

There were many people who wanted the story Known Matthew story,

because these murders had been happening for a long time.

Matthew's Friends and activists they were reaching out

to an existing infrastructure of gay rights,

national organizations

which could then be amplified what happened.

[The National Organization of and Lesbians

descended to Laramie, in particular,

GLAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Anti-Defamation Alliance.

Like, they're literally a media watchdog group.

This is what they do. Everything they do at that moment

was watching the media and contact different members of the media

about the stories and the reports what are they doing.

The only way to change was going to happen was also to use the media

to expand the story of what happened to Matthew.

People are not stupid. They are sophisticated about the media.

[People were calling to the Campus Activities Center

and leaving me messages,

Good Morning America and Dateline.

Hate and violence they must cease.

It was a challenge and only challenge

that suddenly they ask you be the spokesperson

for all the gays in wyoming

is what I felt then.

My name is Nate Mickelson.

I grew up in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

It was quite small,

maybe 3,000 people.

You know, I thought I was the only gay person,

but I was part of that community

and people cared about me whatever happened.

I was in university. And when I found out what happened to Matt,

It really hit me.

You know, I wasn't a type of Wyoming that I remembered.

You know, he let me know I wasn't so sure as I thought I had been.

And I wasn't so sure

growing as I thought that had been

Welcome my friend, Ellen DeGeneres.

[O'Donnell] I was in my television show.

It was a time turbulent

in my life and in my world.

Memory the situation of James Byrd,

the same horror and hypocrisy

and evil and systemic racism

that allows a black man be lynched

and feeling that something must be done,

without knowing what to do.

and just on the heels of that,

Matthew Shepard and feeling that same horror.

The first time I heard about About Matthew Shepard

In my bedroom in New York,

and there was no a ton of details.

Although this happened thousands of kilometers from where we were,

I think we all recognized

pieces of ourselves in this story.

In '98, I was in San Diego, California.

I was in high school.

You already know, It was still in the closet.

And, you know, hear about this horrible,

brutal crime was terrifying.

It scared me

to take a step towards exiting the closet.

It scared me more

to embrace who he was

because it reminded me how much I hate there is out there.

I spent a lot of time trying to convince

my mother in Nebraska

that everything will continue it's going to be fine

and you could be safe

and I would be safe when in reality,

I knew that...

that not always always be like this.

It was terrifying. Was...

It was a terrifying realization.

[While all this is happening,

Matthew follows in the hospital.

Your parents are there and they just wait

that will survive.

We all saw what was happening with Matthew

in the hospital and those days

while trying to survive

and we knew the probability of that.

And yet everyone I expected, right?

[suspense music plays]

[Beck] You know, people were community criticism.

Well, you know, the wild west,

you are probably taking gay street people

left and right and hitting them,

or this kind of thing probably happens in Laramie all the time.

[There was a real generalization

about where Matthew was from

and that maybe It wasn't surprising.

than a gay boy had this...

horrible crime happen to him

in a rural area like that.

May everyone in Wyoming They were anti-LGBTQ,

that we were all a handful

of uneducated hillbillies who went out there participating

in gay bashing or words to that effect.

[Sara Burlingame] I think Wyoming will always fight

with perception perception they have of us,

how it was taught in our schools.

It was preached from our pulpits,

but it is not exclusive of Wyoming.

People love to tell you

"It would never happen in this big blue state where I live."

And they're full of [bleep].

[dramatic music playing]

It was homecoming weekend. for the University of Wyoming.

And so normally, That's festive, right?

[Beck] And they carried yellow bracelets, you know,

saying that hate It is not a Laramie value.

And it was comforting see that.

[Osborn] And that could be seen the same message

on the front marquee of family hotels

and Arby's. national

They were putting up posters like that, too.

I can't begin to describe

the difference that made

as a queer person in this city,

knowing that really there were more people

that covered our backs

and he had Matt's back.

The people supported him.

There were people who were praying that he would live.

It became this, "Can this underdog do it?"

[suspense music plays]

-Ready? -Yeah.

At 12 at night

on October 12, 1998,

The blood pressure of blood pressure began to drop.

His condition continued deteriorating.

And at 12:53 a.m. this morning,

Matthew Shepard died.

Matthew's mother told me,

"Please tell everyone who is listening to go home.

Hug your children.

And don't let a day go by

without telling them that you love them."

Although it was something that for me,

I had kind of knew what was going to happen,

it still was...

that disappointment, that...

That air that escapes from your lungs

that you can't control.

That...

That last vain hope

that's good, wow, maybe he'll wake up he was gone.

[somber music playing]

[I broke down.

I literally broke down.

Suddenly, all that pain

and anger and sadness they rushed

and it completely overwhelmed me.

I was very devastated

for the death of Matthew

and I didn't know very well to do.

my soul ate of human capacity

be cruel to another.

[Lambert] Hear about his death and process it

It was even scarier. because there was no one

to relate to about it.

I had no one with whom to talk about it.

I just found out and I thought...

[exhales]

"This is the world which I'm about to enter

as an adult." And that scared me.

My boyfriend has two children

and his daughter asked me What was I going to do today?

And I explained to him that I was going to make this documentary.

And he asked me what it was about and I told him,

"Well, it's about a boy named Matthew Shepard who died."

And she said, "Why did he die?"

And I said, "Well, because he was gay."

And that was all I could think of. say about it

to a 10 year old boy.

[dramatic music playing]

[Marcus] After Matthew's death was announced,

there was such an outpouring

throughout the country with candlelight vigils

in big cities and small towns.

I was surprised by the outpouring of emotion.

[Lambert] Broke everyone's heart.

And I think finally people They were starting to feel that,

that it doesn't matter who you are It doesn't matter how you identify yourself,

no matter who you love,

nobody deserves be treated like this.

[sirens hooting]

[Matt's death It was a meeting point.

The people were angry,

viscerally angry for what was happening.

Let's commit to transform anger

of this march towards sustained action.

[demonstrator] Let's move tonight.

Let's move the country tonight.

[Yeah.

I'm so... pissed off.

[crowd clamoring]

I can't stop crying.

Here is an example. This young boy minding your business

is killed by no other reason he was gay.

It was so sensational. The story was so strong.

And it was so clear what had happened

that you couldn't deny it further.

[Barney Frank] The determination we have

will not decrease.

[Dick Gephardt] We still have a long way to go

in our nation to ensure

that hate and intolerance

are banished of our country.

[It was amazing.

The only time I can remember before

where was that guy outpouring of emotion and the rage

It was when Harvey Milk He was murdered in 1978.

We must do more

to confront violent intolerance.

Even though Matthew had died

of an anti-gay hate crime,

most of us were pretty naive

about what anti-gay hate it seemed.

-He is the one who said that he was queer. I didn't say it. -Yeah.

[Patterson] When we found out that this guy,

Fred Phelps of the Church Westboro

I was going to come to the funeral,

We found it very strange.

Like, why would anyone come to protest at a funeral?

I had never heard of from Fred Phelps before.

Fred Phelps coined the slogan,

"God hates faggots" and was known

for some really vulgar and horrible anti-gay rhetoric.

[indistinct chatter]

[It was like how much more horrible

could a group of people?

This seems to be the right time

To address this family,

ruining this event that should have been

a very gloomy day, a very respectful day.

It's really shocking.

Have you ever been to a parade of faggots?

[Fred] We don't force to a faggot...

[He and his family They are holding these signs

like "Matt in hell"

and "AIDS kills queers"

and how horrible, Hateful shit, right?

You will go to hell.

you will go to hell as Matthew Shepard

for the hell he made before dying.

[Romaine and I we knew we had to respond to that.

We knew it was likely that Phelps

and his group They would return at some point.

We thought it was important to us

send a message

that we do not agree with that.

That kind of thing They are not welcome here.

we knew that we had to block them.

we wanted block Fred Phelps and all its horrible signs

so that Judy and Dennis never had

to look at their ugly faces.

I had a plan.

[suspense music plays]

[Patterson] In the intermediate period

between the service by Matthew

and then what was supposed be an audience,

really, by Russell Henderson,

the world was crazy.

Those of us who were actively

still doing interviews,

talk later with Matthew's parents

and asked what they wanted us to say

because that was important. You know, we wanted to make sure that

that we were doing well, not just for Matthew, but for Judy and Dennis.

We never stopped. It never stopped.

There definitely was, You know, meaningful work.

with law enforcement

and the court case, you know, the county attorney's office.

[Many motions clarified at that time

that this was going to be to be a death penalty case.

They had to separate both cases,

so they weren't going to be judged together.

[dramatic music playing]

[About a week before from the trial of Russell Henderson,

Jim Osborn calls me and tells me,

"Fred Phelps is coming to Laramie for the trials."

And I said, "Cool."

The question and deliver the country

to these sodomite militants.

[Patterson] All Exterior of the courthouse

was surrounded from media people.

there had to be about ten or fifteen

satellite trucks, hundreds of reporters.

It was crazy.

And everyone is focused at Fred Phelps

and its horrible anti-gay garbage.

In any nation that agrees that it's okay to be gay

will follow the path of ancient Sodom.

And then suddenly this band of angels

comes walking down the street and they're like,

"What the hell is this?"

And like the separation of the Red Sea,

everyone makes their way.

-[people chatting indistinctly] -Yeah.

[Patterson] And we We surround Fred Phelps,

we turn our backs and now we are angels.

[We didn't want to let that kind of hate

and intolerance enter in our community.

[Patterson] And it worked very well.

Fred Phelps can no longer talk to people.

can no longer yell at people.

so they started to sing hymns.

And now there are angels with floating wings,

listening, you know, beautiful hymns

and it was serene and surreal and just wild.

[Russell Henderson's public defender Russell Henderson Wyatt Skaggs

had a number death penalty cases

and I really didn't want to that nothing went to trial.

And he saw the evidence. I knew what they had.

He really worked tirelessly since this case started

with a goal in mind.

and that was to save Russell's life.

Judge Donnell just said that this was a horrible murder.

When examined all the facts of the case,

there is simply no way should be in public.

And he gave him, you know, consecutive sentences.

And that's how it is for life.

Chasity Pasley, who was Russell's girlfriend,

was sentenced to about year and a half in prison.

Aaron McKinney's girlfriend Kristen Price

never ended serving no sentence,

apart from his initial arrest arrest time he had

and kept going with his life.

With those three out of the way, It became the trial.

Aaron McKinney, faced to the death penalty.

And that was the main event

that everyone I had been waiting.

There were a couple of things still in play

that this was just a robbery gone wrong

and this had nothing to do with hate crimes.

But this was a hate crime, without any doubt.

But one of the things what the defense did

is that they used gay panic defense

that nothing of this would have happened

Yes Matthew Shepard It didn't reach his groin.

and touch it there, and that made him explode.

The defense of gay panic it means

that someone is gay or queer or trans identity

It's reason enough to hurt them,

that is something violent and threatening

and it is legally admissible

to take violent action towards them.

[It was not the first time.

There have been several occasions in the past

and about 30% of cases in which this defense was used,

people got a reduced sentence.

[suspense music plays]

[And one of the things which the defense also did

is that they used the fact that Aaron McKinney

was a victim of sexual abuse as a child.

They need to explain which has some

very raw emotions about this,

and if someone is doing a movement on him,

what will trigger some things

and lead to this beating, lead to this attack.

[Marcus] There was a lot people who believed

that Matthew Shepard as a gay man

He received what he deserved.

I really believe that the people of McKinney

thought that would work,

and I was preparing for it.

[suspense music plays]

As soon as the gay panic the defense arose,

the prosecutor objected.

well i think what is a defense

that's atrocious which should not be used

in any situation,

in any court in these United States.

It gives people the excuse

hurt or kill to another person.

[news reporter] The sentence is a relief

to those who support to Shepard's family

and those who support gay themes.

Even if Matthew went too far to Aaron McKinney,

all he had to say was, "No, thanks,"

what is it that women have what to say over and over again

because men do unwanted passes.

He didn't have to to beat him to death

with the butt of a gun.

It's a pathetic defense.

[Burlingame] The defense of gay panic

It's the perfect joint.

how deeply we blame the victims

of homophobic crimes and transphobia.

[The jury found Aaron McKinney guilty

two counts of murder

in addition to aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

The verdicts came after only 10 hours of deliberation.

And then we were preparing for what we expected it to be

a very good one discussion about the death penalty.

And then, out of nowhere, it was announced that

that's not what was going to happen.

[news reporter] After being approached by defense lawyers,

the Shepards recommended that McKinney was given life

instead of death in memory of his son.

In an emotional speech to the court,

Dennis Shepard told McKinney,

"You stole from me something very valuable.

Mr. McKinney, I give you my life

in memory of someone who no longer lives.

May you have a long life

and thank Mateo every day for it."

I was so moved by his words. and his compassion

and your ability to forgive.

And I thought, this is it the dawn of something new.

[Frame] After Matthew's death, there was so much organization

and so much forward momentum

and so many public demands of legislation

for hate crimes.

Quickly, the President made this cause his own.

And I think that in part that's because the country

was willing to have the conversation.

Hate crime laws they had proposed

in Congress on multiple occasions and failed on multiple occasions.

This was not something that had never been discussed before.

The Hate Crimes Prevention Law it would be important

substantively and symbolically

to send a message to ourselves and to the world

let's go to the 21st century

determined to preach and to practice what is right.

I wasn't surprised either that in the end

that the legislation died in commission

because they weren't that fast

to pick up the ball and run with it.

[Patterson] I think the Matthew Shepard Foundation

it's one of the things important

to go out of Matthew's death.

There is no excuse for what happened to Matthew

and it is necessary what to do to stop

this hatred that seems permeate society.

Which ultimately becomes this incredible mission

to erase hate through legislation.

[Let's move on and start.

[news reporter] On this dirt road,

Byrd was murdered early Sunday morning.

The murderers left a trail of blood

and the trail of evidence as they were driving down this road.

[The combination of horrible racism

of the death of James Byrd and homophobia

in Matthew's, I think they are united forever.

They are united forever emotionally and morally.

They are evils of... From the same pile,

you know, and they are united like all of us,

you know, move forward for equality in this country.

This is a topic that we couldn't let go.

I have a window of opportunity here

what do I want leverage.

[Suddenly,

this tremendous responsibility fell on her.

He doesn't like crowds,

he doesn't like to be in front of people,

and yet, despite all that,

kept doing it day after day.

[Patterson] When I think about

how he responded to it,

if you don't have respect for that woman,

you don't even know the meaning of the work.

Today's audience it is very important

and focuses on the serious problem of hate crimes.

Think about the incidence of recent violent crimes

who are motivated for hate and intolerance

and how they have cauterized the conscience of this country.

And then people said, "Let's talk about this.

Let's talk about it right now, because if we don't,

this will continue and we can't allow it."

It took society, I think, a time to understand

what it is to protect to minorities in this country

who do not usually have a voice social or political,

and they are demonized and treated as inferiors.

The fact that this legislation exists

highlights these crimes

like something something more than a murder.

These commit specifically

because the individual who commits the crime

hate that person

for what they are, fundamentally.

we only asked that they would not murder us.

It is the most modest of the requests.

Hate crimes have no place in America.

[hammer hitting]

In 2007, a version by Matthew Shepard

Hate Crimes Law reintroduced in the Senate.

It was approved in the chamber...

In this bill, the yeses are 237.

The nos are 180.

The law is approved.

[people cheering]

It was attached to the Law of of Defense.

President Bush he said he would veto

the law of Defense Authorization Act,

Yes, this Hate Crimes Law was united to her.

So it was finally removed

of the Law of Authorization Law

and died on the ground.

[If you trace the trajectory

of hate crimes that are being introduced,

there is something really instructive

about what our movement, right?

How to advocate for full

dignity and health of LGBTQ people,

what we learned in the process,

once we came together around like love

it is a message of love that helped us progress.

And it haunts me to this day,

think how many times

has bared his soul and your pain

for the benefit of others.

how many hearts has changed.

how many minds has expanded.

Thank you very much and welcome to the White House.

You know, as a nation, we have come far

on the way to a more perfect union,

and today we have given another step forward.

This afternoon I have signed the law

Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.

-Hate Crimes Prevention Law. -[applause]

[11 years passed since Matthew's murder

to be signed of hate,

which seemed fast to me for legislation

cover something that is so potentially controversial

how to protect gays and others

of hate crimes.

[everyone applauding]

[Marcus] I was surprised

and...

And moved to tears then and again now.

There is something that

so important to know

that your government, my government cares about me.

[What started to create awareness

for equal rights legislation.

And something started.

The country began to take this seriously

and trying to protect us as members of the country.

[Marcus] What happened to Matthew Shepard

It was a key turning point.

The legislation that approved

for his murder it is very important

for our community.

I think many of us think that it was over,

that we didn't have to fight more,

that we were accepted.

we were so wrong on so many levels.

The following years the signing of the legislation hate crimes

it seemed an almost golden age.

We were starting to feel like we are really going to live

in a country that welcomes us.

We were in a great place.

There wasn't really a concern

when we wake up in the morning about, you already know,

having to put on extra armor or the shield, right?

We felt freer.

[It was created this feeling of impulse

and this feeling of how, we finally realized

as a country how to like,

make people feel included

and like celebrate the difference.

[people cheering]

This morning, I'm proud

to sign a law that will end

to Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

[cheers and applause]

And in 2015 when the Supreme Court

spoke out on marriage equality,

and then same-sex marriage

It was legal throughout the country.

[The ban of gay adoption was, you know, abandoned.

And so, suddenly, our entire family structure,

that had been illegal in this country

and in this state, It was already a thing of the past.

So we got legally married in the state of Florida.

Now we can legally adopt children

in the state of Florida.

This wonderful radiance of being, You know, new parents.

-I loved every minute. -Yeah. Was...

It was incredible.

It was incredible.

It was a step in the right direction.

It was a step towards acceptance.

And I let my guard down thinking that

things just They are going to improve.

and I have lived enough to see

multiple... waves

of progress and regression.

I should have seen it coming, and I didn't do it.

[cheers]

[Election night,

on election night 2016,

I'm devastated because I don't know

what this means to my family.

I remember people who supported

of the then president,

"Oh, they're not... "Nothing is going to change."

-Mmm-hmm. -They are not going to...

They are not going to touch

any LGBTQ rights.

And I: "You're naive."

I, Donald John Trump, I solemnly swear.

I knew this was potentially a very dark time ahead.

The furies had been unleashed.

[Trump! Trump! Trump!

[Marcus] With a counterattack

that I couldn't have imagined.

They are worthy of death.

These people must be sentenced to death.

[Cudmore] 2016 started with the bathroom law

which was North Carolina legislation

to prevent trans students use the bathroom

that fit with their gender identity.

My name is Erin Reed. I use the pronouns she/him.

I am a researcher queer

and activist, and content creator.

Those of us who are active in the LGBTQ community

and on LGBTQ rights

I was very afraid that our rights were curtailed.

And those fears they came true relatively fast.

The goal of our school system

is to educate children, not indoctrinate our children.

[Correct!

My name is Zander Moricz.

I knew about Matthew Shepard,

but i don't know If that narrative is so widespread

recognized as me how I would like

because these stories are essential

to share and reflect.

I grew up in Sarasota, Florida,

what is a community polarized,

and found refuge in my school community.

I went out to a civics teacher at Pine View,

what was it then my physical education teacher actually.

It was a safe space. It was exactly

what a school should be.

It is a place to learn

and discover not only things on topics but yourself.

That environment

that is so accepting, that is so affirmative,

it's a threat for politicians

and they need a solution for that.

And the solution is, "Okay, everything is happening

in these safe spaces. "We will take them away."

And the Don't Say Gay law was an example of this.

No sexual instruction

from preschool to third.

And how many parents

they want their daycare children have transsexuality

or something injected in teaching?

When it was presented as a bill,

Our children were in first grade.

The bill is supposed to affect kindergarten children up to third grade.

So this was bring home directly to us.

The Don't Say Gay Bill It's already law.

Governor Ron DeSantis Monday signed the measure

prohibit certain instruction about sexual orientation

and gender identity in the classroom.

One of the things that does this legislation

so horrible is the shape in which it is applied.

The application mechanism is that any father

-they can sue a school district. -[activists singing]

[The opposition the bill became stronger in the last few days.

[Lambert] For a public school teacher in Florida

get into trouble to maybe have a photo

of your spouse at your desk.

we can't even a risk. Imagine what would be the consequences.

What is happening? We're kind of going completely backwards.

Although Ron DeSantis said that it was intended

to protect only the children of,

you know, being indoctrinated in homosexuality,

the law has been expanded to apply it to children

in grades K through 12.

-The amount of silence... -Mmm-hmm.

...it was deafening.

we continue watching hate attacks

like the attack on Matthew and what that means for us

It's not that there isn't no progress,

but that hate still exists.

And that's like the enemy of equality.

In Texas, the governor I had a directive

to prevent trans youth

access to medical care transgender.

[The governor's directive directive was to investigate

some parents from texas of transsexual children

for possible abuse of minors,

specifically parents that provided gender

affirmative care that stops puberty.

[Burlingame] Those bills do harm.

They create harassment to young transsexuals.

Young transsexuals deserve be protected and safe.

can't be heard nothing like that Governor Abbott, right?

As if you heard the opposite.

You hear this dehumanization

of Governor Abbott's children.

And somehow from 2016 to now

that has been normalized.

All this is going to do

is forcing many of us to hide again.

What can they do? They can hide.

That is all that remains.

Or they can fight.

and none of those options feels good,

but that's what remains.

I mean, hide or fight, You know?

The death of Matthew Shepard It was horrible,

but it is also this violence It is usual.

We are very grateful that you are here with us

while we cover a shooting shooting with victims

in downtown Orlando.

[Cudmore] Physical violence like the massacre

at the Pulse nightclub in Florida,

or the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs,

that teaches our queer youth

and queer people in general they are terrified,

that based your identity They can be slaughtered.

[Marcus] The sad reality is that people will always hate.

And no matter what we do,

we keep coming back to the same horrible places.

But we can't not fight.

We have to keep fighting.

and that means be visible when you can

to your family, to your friends, to your community.

[The people that are part of that,

you know, the mobile center, Who are your neighbors?

they just need to hear a different message,

invite them in, have that conversation.

On the other hand, like the conservatives,

you are going to have find your moral courage.

As if the story will look back

about what you did and you didn't do during this time.

And I think they are going to judge you harshly

because of how fast You capitulated your values.

[activist singing]

Matthew's story it's really important

because it was one of the reasons why

we have been able to move forward in the last 25 years.

[Marco] But the need at the moment when it's hard

to motivate yourself to fight again,

remember Who was this young man?

who was brutally murdered because he was gay.

-Move! -You are an intolerant and you a coward!

And that's why why the story of matthew

continues to count.

And we have to continue sharing Matthew's story.

We have to teach gay history.

It is very important

let us continue focusing on young people.

Young people are the future.

We have a lot of brave people teenagers like Zander doing the things he does,

and it's encouraging.

[Moricz] What happened to Matthew Shepard

It's undeniably evil.

and disgusting and full of hate

that repeats every day.

But there is nothing let it stop us

to revolutionize our society

in a generation. We could do it.

We just have to start right now.

[Now!

[suspense music plays]

[activist chant continues]