In honor of Matthew Shepard

Recently ABC's "20/20" ran a program with the intent or raising questions about why Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in 1998. Much has already been written about Matthew Shepard. Regardless whether Matthew Shepard was on drugs or even sold drugs and regardless whether he was gay or had HIV, he was a human being and did not deserve to die as he did.

To honor the memory of Matthew Shepard and the many others who since his death have suffered similar fates in part or in whole because they were hated due to their race, religion, sexual orientation or other aspects of their humanity, I will simply include below a link for a website that give better tributes to the life of Matthew Shepard and touches on the issues involved than I can do justice to here. I hope you will take the time to visit this site. If you do, it can also link you with other places to go to learn more about honoring the lives of those who suffer because of prejudice and hatred in our society:

Grief, Healing, and Learning--A Tribute Site Dedicated to the Memory of Matthew Wayne Shepard: http://www.tchastings.com/matt.html