Matthew Shephard
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Matthew Shephard
Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on October 6, 1998. He was transported by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries sustained during the attack. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Henderson pleaded guilty to murder, and McKinney was tried and found guilty of murder; each of them received two consecutive life sentences. Significant media coverage was given to the murder and what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive for the crime, as he was gay. The prosecutor argued the murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's defense counsel countered by arguing that he had intended only to rob Shepard but he killed him in a rage wh ...
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Casper, Wyoming
Casper is a city in and the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the List of municipalities in Wyoming, second-most populous city in the state after Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Casper is nicknamed "The Oil City" and has a long history of oil boomtown and cowboy culture, dating back to the development of the nearby Salt Creek Oil Field. Casper is in east central Wyoming, on the North Platte River. History Casper was established east of the former site of Fort Caspar, in an area that attracted European settlers during the mid-19th century mass migration of land seekers along the Oregon Trail, Oregon, California Trail, California, and Mormon Trail, Mormon trails, where several nearby ferries offered passage across the North Platte River in the early 1840s. In 1859, Louis Guinard built a bridge and trading post near the original ferry locations, allowing overland travel to c ...
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111th United States Congress
The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U.S. census. In the November 2008 elections, the Democratic Party increased its majorities in both chambers (including – when factoring in the two Democratic caucusing independents – a brief filibuster-proof 60-40 supermajority in the Senate), and with Barack Obama being sworn in as president on January 20, 2009, this gave Democrats an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 103rd Congress in 1993. However, the Senate supermajority only lasted for a period of 72 working days while the Senate was actually in ...
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Natrona County School District
The Natrona County School District #1 is a public school district, serving students in Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Based in Casper, Wyoming, the district includes the entire county, and also serves the towns and communities of Alcova, Edgerton, Evansville, Midwest, Mills, Powder River, and Willow Creek. Governance The Natrona County School District is governed by a publicly elected board of trustees. Members are elected at-large by county voters to staggered, four-year terms. School elections are held biannually in November. The school board hires a superintendent to oversee the day-to-day operations of the district. Current superintendent Mike Jennings was hired in July 2020 and is set to retire in July 2024. The school board has selected current Associate Superintendent Angela Hensley to be the next superintendent, which she will assume in July 2024. Internally, NCSD operates under a shared governance model called the Compact. Established in 2001 following ...
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The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ...
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Altar Boy
An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up the liturgical books, among other things. If young, the server is commonly called an altar boy or altar girl. In some Christian denominations, altar servers are known as acolytes. Latin Church The Second Vatican Council's '' Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy'' confirmed that altar servers featured among those who "exercise a genuine liturgical function" within services such as the Mass. According to the ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'', "Mass should not be celebrated without a minister, or at least one of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause." While the function of altar server is commonly associated with children, it can be and is carried out by people of any age or dignity. The term "acolyte" As in ot ...
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Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses of the Episcopal Church, provinces. The current presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Sean Rowe, Sean W. Rowe. In 2023, the Episcopal Church had 1,547,779 members. it was the 14th largest denomination in the United States. Note: The number of members given here is the total number of baptized members in 2012 (cf. #refBaptizedMembers2012, Baptized Members by Province and Diocese 2002–2013). In 2025, Pew Research Center, Pew Research estimated that 1 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 2.6 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians. The church has declined in membership and Sunday attendance since the 1960s, particularly in the Northeastern Uni ...
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The Meaning Of Matthew
''The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed'' is a 2009 memoir about the life of Matthew Shepard, written by his mother, Judy Shepard. The book was published by Hudson Street Press on September 3, 2009, and was featured as a ''New York Times'' best-seller for the week of September 27, 2009. Critical reception In a review for ''The Houston Chronicle'', Elizabeth Kennedy commented on the imagery and specific details of the memories put forth by Judy Shepard, stating that the book was a "unalloyed memoir of remarkable clarity and restraint", adding that, "As plainspoken and unassuming as this memoir is, the scenes from the life interrupted are indelible". Aly Semigran for ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the memoir an "A" rating, noting that, "Shepard writes with unwavering honesty, devoting the right amount of time to each part of her story." Kathi Isserman, writing for '' Curve Magazine'' said that the memoir was "raw, honest and real, with some surp ...
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The Laramie Project (film)
''The Laramie Project'' is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Moisés Kaufman and starring Nestor Carbonell, Christina Ricci, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney, and Lou Ann Wright. Based on the play of the same name, the film tells the story of the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and was first broadcast on HBO in March 2002. Cast Reception Matt Roush of ''TV Guide'' praised the film for "elevating Shepard's murder to a higher crossroads of journalism and theatricality." Roush singled out the film's cast, and its "original" and "unique investigation", likening its focus on Nestor Carbonell's Kaufman to Truman Capote making himself the star of '' In Cold Blood''. Roush also noted the film's emotional range and its examination of homophobia, saying that it could "enlighten" viewers.Matt Roush. "The Lost Boy: Revisiting the Shepard Tragedy" ''TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital medi ...
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The Laramie Project
''The Laramie Project'' is a 2000 American play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project (specifically, Leigh Fondakowski, writer-director; Stephen Belber, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Stephen Wangh, Amanda Gronich, Sara Lambert, John McAdams, Maude Mitchell, Andy Paris, and Kelli Simpkins) about the reaction to the 1998 murder of homosexuality, gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states, including Wyoming. An example of verbatim theatre, the play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries, and published news reports. It is divided into three acts, and eight actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes. Performances ''The Laramie Project'' premiered at The Ricketson Theatre by the Denver Center Theatre C ...
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Cultural Depictions Of Matthew Shepard
Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard include notable films, musical works, novels, plays, and other works inspired by the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder, investigation, and resulting interest the case brought to the topic of hate crime. The best known is the stage play ''The Laramie Project'', which was adapted into an HBO movie of the same name. Matthew Wayne Shepard was an openly gay university student who was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998 and left for dead by his attackers. People in the entertainment industry expressed outrage and responded in various ways to the attack, and Ellen DeGeneres spoke at Shepard's memorial services in Washington, D.C. Three narrative films were made about the Shepard story: ''The Laramie Project'' (2000, based on the play of the same name), '' The Matthew Shepard Story'' (2002), and '' Anatomy of a Hate Crime'' (2001). ''The Laramie Project'' and ''The Matthew Shepard Story'' both won numerous awards. The documentary film ...
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Matthew Shepard Foundation
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBTQ nonprofit organization, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, which was founded in December 1998 by Dennis Shepard, Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew Shepard, Matthew, who was murdered in 1998. The Foundation runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs. Programs The Matthew Shepard Foundation has online and offline programs designed to raise awareness of anti-violence and promote human dignity for everyone by engaging schools, companies, and individuals in dialogues. Laramie Project support ''The Laramie Project'' is a play created in the aftermath of Matthew's 1998 murder. The Matthew Shepard Foundation works with companies, colleges and universities, high schools, community theatres, and religious groups to provide a variety of services including media resources, historical background and context, creative consultation, and assistance with school curriculums related to the play. The organization has worked with pr ...
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LGBTQ Rights Activist
A list of notable LGBTQ rights activists who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Albania * Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT organization and recipient of the Civil Rights Defenders of the Year Award 2022 * Kristi Pinderi, LGBT activist and journalist; founder of Pro-LGBT Angola * Carlos Fernandes, LGBT activist and a founder/director of the Iris Angola Association. * Imanni Da Silva, Angolan model and transgender rights activist. * Titica, transgender Angolan singer and goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS. Argentina * Mariana Alarcón, human rights activist who worked for labor rights for transgender women *Claudia Pía Baudracco, led the movement to repeal laws criminalizing transgender identities; co-founder of the Argentine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Federation *Lohana Berkins, founder of the Association for the Fight for Travesti and Transsexual Identity * Lara María Bert ...
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