Gay barbed wire death

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Jump to navigation Skip navigation. On October 6, , two young men in Laramie, Wyoming, tricked University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard into thinking they would give him a ride home from the bar. Eighteen hours later, a cyclist found the gay student tied to a fence, beaten, burned, and comatose with a fractured skull. He initially mistook Shepard's limp frame for a scarecrow. I revisit what happened to Matthew Shepard because the place where he died, forever since then associated with the savage violence and hatred LGBT Americans face, did something special last night. It made history by passing the first Wyoming nondiscrimination ordinance, with very little public opposition, to protect everyone from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, and access to public accommodations. While the tragic incident shone the light on the intolerance and discrimination that the LGBT community faces and highlighted the critical need for civil rights protections for LGBT people across the country, Wyomingites have waited many years for legislation that protects our friends, our family, and our neighbors from discrimination.

Suspects Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to the murder and to what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive in the commission of the crime. The prosecutor argued that McKinney's murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed.

In the evening hours of Oct. At the Fireside, Shepard sat at the bar drinking from a bottle of imported beer. After somewhat more than an hour, he was approached by two men his own age: Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, high-school dropouts with roofing jobs. They had purchased a pitcher of beer with small change and eventually engaged Shepard in a conversation. Shortly after midnight, Shepard left the bar with McKinney and Henderson; police and prosecutors would assert that the two men lured Shepard, perhaps under the pretense of themselves being gay, but in fact with the intent of robbing him.