Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 14:18:45 -0700 From: GLAAD and NGLTF Subject: GLAAD AND NGLTF PROFOUNDLY SADDENED BY DEATH OF MATTHEW SHEPARD MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jennifer Einhorn, GLAAD Director of Communications phone: (212) 807-1700 x14 pager: (888) 656-9045 e-mail: einhorn@glaad.org Tracey Conaty, NGLTF Communications Director phone: (202) 332-6483 x3303 pager: (800) 757-6476 tconaty@ngltf.org GLAAD AND NGLTF PROFOUNDLY SADDENED BY DEATH OF MATTHEW SHEPARD NEW YORK, NY, MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1998-The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) today announced their extreme sorrow at the death of Matthew Shepard early this morning. Shepard, a 22-year-old University of Wyoming student, was left tied to a fence to die after having been beaten, burned and slashed in what community leaders are clearly marking as a bias-motivated hate crime. GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry issued the following statement: "The entire staff and board of GLAAD extends their deepest sympathies to the family, friends and loved ones of Matthew Shepard. His death this morning from the brutal, senseless attack he suffered last week is one which will be mourned not only by those closest to him, but by members of the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender community across the country. People around the world are going to hear of Matthew's death and respond with the same horror that we have, and it's our deepest hope that they'll be able to see this attack for what it was: pure and unmitigated bigotry. There are no 'special rights' when it comes to hate crimes. The rhetoric of 'hope and healing' being used by religious political extremists, and their conviction that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people need to be 'changed,' fosters a climate of intolerance which puts people in harm's way. It must end now. Matthew Shepard is gone; how many more of us must follow him before our legislators will listen? The national Hate Crimes Prevention Act and similar state-level actions are crucial to protecting all Americans from the kind of horrors with Matthew Shepard and his family have been forced to endure." NGLTF Executive Director Kerry Lobel said: "The death of Matthew Shepard is tragic, but it does not have to be in vain. We take solace in the fact that most Americans are outraged by this vicious and hateful attack. We now ask these same Americans to help us stop the anti-gay legislative and public relations attacks that have been so prevalent these past few months. These campaigns to change gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are so clearly not about compassion - they foster fear, misunderstanding, and intolerance. They foster an atmosphere of hostility that can lead to hate attacks such as the one against Matthew Shepard. We ask all Americans to support hate crimes legislation and to speak out against the right wing's campaign to change gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people." GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay media advocacy organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of combating homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has worked to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level since its inception in 1973. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. -30-