Dennis Shepard (born November 1954) is the father of

Matthew Shepard 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 Valle ...

, a 21-year-old student at

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

who was murdered in October 1998 in what became one of the most high-profile

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

s against

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

people in the United States. He and his wife,

Judy Shepard Judy Shepard ( Peck; born August 15, 1952) is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998. She and her husband, Dennis Shepard, are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, ...

, are co-founders of the

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 i ...

, and advocate for

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

. He has been an advocate for parental support of LGBT children both during Matthew's life and, very publicly, since Matthew's death. He and Judy continue to live and work in Casper.

Personal life

Born in

Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States, in the Great Plains region. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the 13th-most-populous city in N ...

, Shepard earned a degree in education from the

before marrying Judy in 1973 and moving to

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 th ...

, in 1976. While they have also resided in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, they have since returned to Casper, where they currently work and reside. Dennis is the father of two sons, Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976–1998) and Logan Shepard (born 1981).

Career

Shepard was an oil industry safety engineer, Dennis worked for more than 16 years in safety operations for

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...

in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, before retiring from that position in 2009.

Advocacy

He has served on the Matthew Shepard Foundation board of directors since the organization's inception and currently speaks to audiences around the country, particularly to victims' advocacy organizations and law enforcement audiences about his experiences and the importance of equal treatment of LGBT crime victims and their loved ones. On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (), a bill which would expand federal hate crimes legislation to include

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

, was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

, sponsored by Democrat

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the lo ...

with 171 co-sponsors. Dennis and his wife, Judy, were present at the introduction ceremony. That bill did not pass however, after then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

threatened to veto the bill if it passed. On October 22, 2009, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and on October 28, 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

signed the legislation into law. Dennis and his wife Judy announced Wyoming's votes in the roll call at the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard, Dennis Episcopalians from Wyoming 21st-century American engineers American Episcopalians American expatriates in Saudi Arabia American LGBTQ rights activists Living people Matthew Shepard People from Casper, Wyoming People from Dhahran 1954 births People from Scottsbluff, Nebraska Wyoming Democrats American founders

Personal life

Career

Advocacy

See also

References

External links