Erase hate

Domenica scorsa ricorreva il decimo anniversario dell’assassinio di Matthew Shepard. Coloro a cui questo nome non dice niente possono leggere la sua storia sulla voce italiana di Wikipedia.
In ritardo, prendo spunto quasi interamente dal suo post e riporto anch’io le parole della madre di Matthew, apparse sul sito della Fondazione che di lui porta il nome.

Il post (che continua anche più sotto) è rivolto, tra gli altri, alle persone convinte che alle prossime elezioni americane "che vincano Obama o McCain/Palin è lo stesso". No, non sarà affatto la stessa cosa – anche se purtroppo dall’Italia non possiamo influire granché sull’esito di quel voto.

Ah, ed è rivolto anche anche a quelli che pensano che il Wyoming sia lontano. Se nell‘abbrutita società italiana di oggi non c’è ancora scappato il ragazzo gay pestato a morte da coetanei, temo che sia soltanto questione di fortuna.

TEN YEARS OF CHANGE – NO PROGRESS

It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since Matthew’s death.  So much has changed yet so much remains the same. I want to thank all of you for your unwavering support for the Foundation.  I know that you understand our work is far from over.  I don’t mean the work of the Foundation exclusively I mean the work we all need to do at a personal level.  We need to continue talking to our friends, families and co-workers.  Unless we are honest about who we are and are able to share with those who love us what our lives are like, they will not know how to help us.  We need those allies in this struggle to achieve equality across the board to realize all of our civil rights.

Great advances have been made in changing people’s attitudes and eliminating ignorance about the gay community even in my wonderful state of Wyoming.  At least I thought so, until I read the readers’ comments following an article about the ten year observance of Matt’s death in the Cheyenne, Wyoming newspaper.

I understand that the readers who take the time to write in are doing so because they absolutely disagree with the article and those who do agree won’t bother to write comments.  However, it brought home to me how much work is left to do to make the world an accepting place.  The level of ignorance is astounding.  The continuing belief that what happened to Matt was not a hate crime and the notion that ‘special people shouldn’t have special rights’, is beyond my comprehension. The level of ‘hate’ is frightening.

The Foundation staff is very committed to doing all they can to ensure the message – ‘erase hate’ – is one that is known to the community and its allies as well as those who are trying learn more about the Foundation and the LGBT community at large.  It is ignorance that ultimately results in hate and that may escalate into physical violence.  The only way to combat the ignorance is to educate and tell our stories.

We are all aware of how important this election cycle is to all of us.  Please take the time to know the issues and what is at stake for the LGBT community.  Share your stories with those who care about you.  It is the only way they will know how to vote to support you.

The privilege of having the right to vote is also a responsibility.  We must remember that we are not voting only for a new President but also for representatives at the local, county, state and national level.  Please vote and encourage everyone you know to vote.  Apathy is unacceptable.  We are at a cross roads in the movement and we need to show our support for those who support the LGBT community.  We are all hoping the next ten years will be our time.

Thank you again for being a part of what we do!

Sincerely,
Judy Shepard

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The Laramie Project è un spettacolo teatrale del 2000, trasformato due anni dopo in documentario di successo, basato sulla storia di Matthew. Il documentario è praticamente visibile per intero su Youtube. Consiglio di partire dal trailer, in cui si possono scoprire i tanti attori celebri di tv e cinema che si sono prestati alla causa.
La chicca: al minuto 2’14” un pastore omofobo pronuncia a proposito del ragazzo ucciso parole che fanno rabbrividire. Gli appassionati di una certa serie televisiva già forse si immaginano chi possa esserne l’interprete…