that also means i graduated near seven years ago... nevertheless, i remember hearing about matt. i didn't identify as gay back then so, at least at that time, i didn't feel a real connection to him.
humanly, though, i felt like shit. i had no idea where laromie, wyoming was nor why i should even give a damn. but as the events of the case unfolded, i realized that i should care and there was so much that i could feel.
for instance, that could have happened to any of us. especially those who are attracted to the sometimes-attainable 'straight guys'. my hometown is similar in size, unfortunately still similar in the mindset and i could probably name you several people who'd there be capable of the same thing matt endured.
more than that, though, i learned compassion. i learned tolerance. i learned love. didn't you see all that in the days after, too? college students, straight and gay, stood together as one. parents supported their children in this cause that still wasn't popular and broadcast on network television.
it's been seven years... what did he mean to you?
matt also made me jealous. his dad... have you ever watched the story of matt's life and death?
his dad speaks to the killers. although he was a continent away, he tells them matt didn't die alone. he tells them that stars the dad and son gazed upon watched over him. the wind, he said, blew fragrantly around matthew. can you imagine?
i hope that seven years later people can see the effect matthew shepard, his life, his death and this world has upon me. i hope that i am a better person. i hope that i am safer. i hope that i've done something to make someone else safe?
we all have to walk a mile in each others' shoes to understand. it takes guts and it's not easy...
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