The National Youth Advocacy Coalition will honor the legacy of Matthew Shepard with an exclusive blog series beginning October 10, the agency announced today.
The series, "The Impact of Matthew Shepard," will include contributions from NYAC, GLAAD, PFLAG, GLSEN and The Trevor Project. The series will be posted on NYAC's blog at blog.nyacyouth.org. Shepard gained notoriety instantly after he was attacked on Oct. 7, 1998 and brutally killed in an incident later deemed a hate crime due to his sexual orientation. He was just 21 when he died on Oct. 12, 1998. Shepard's death brought national attention to the effort to pass what is now known as the Matthew Shepard Act, which would expand the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
The House of Representatives passed the Matthew Shepard Act on May 3, 2007, 237-180. The Senate passed the bill on September 27, 2007 by a 60-39 margin as part of an amendment to the Defense Reauthorization bill, but after a veto threat from President Bush, the amendment was removed by Congressional leaders.
"We should not rest until the Matthew Shepard Act is signed into law," said Greg Varnum, acting executive director for NYAC. "This blog series will be an opportunity for us to celebrate Matthew's legacy and all the many ways he has influenced our work."
To learn more about Matthew Shepard, please contact The Matthew Shepard Foundation at www.matthewshepard.org.
National Youth Advocacy Coalition
1638 R. Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20009
800.541.6922
www.nyacyouth.org
When considering the rate of hate crimes within America, it is good to see initiatives such as these that can help to spread awareness about such affairs. It is quite unfortunate that even in the times we live in, such things still persist within our own country.
Thank you for posting!
-OxonGlass11