Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard
Encyclopedia
Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard lists notable plays, films, novels, songs and other works created from the 1998 Matthew Shepard
murder, investigation and resulting interest the case brought to hate crime
issues. The best known is the stage play The Laramie Project, which was adapted into an HBO movie of the same name
. Matthew Wayne Shepard was an openly
gay
university student who was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming
in October 1998 and left for dead by his attackers. Shepard later died from intracerebral hemorrhage and hypothermia. The incident was a major news story and this case brought national attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. His two assailants, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, were convicted of the crime and imprisoned. Henderson is serving two consecutive life sentences
and McKinney is serving the same but without the possibility of parole
.
People in the entertainment industry expressed outrage and responded in various ways to the attack. Ellen DeGeneres
hosted Shepard's memorial services in Washington, D.C.
Three narrative films were made about the Shepard story: The Laramie Project (based on the play of the same name), The Matthew Shepard Story and Anatomy of a Hate Crime. The Laramie Project and The Matthew Shepard Story both won numerous awards. The documentary film Laramie Inside Out focuses on the murder's effect on the Laramie community in the aftermath of the murder.
and members of the Tectonic Theater Project
about the reaction to the murder of Shepard. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries and published news reports.
written and directed by Moisés Kaufman
, and based on his own play of the same name mentioned above. The film feature an all-star cast. It premiere
d at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival
and was first broadcast on HBO on March 9, 2002. The film was praised by TV Guide
s Matt Roush for its emotional range, its examination of homophobia, and the unique investigation at its center, saying that viewers would be "enlightened" by it.
movie about the trial of the killers of Matthew Shepard. It premiered on NBC
on March 9, 2002, the same night as HBO's The Laramie Project. It starred Shane Meier
as Matthew Shepard, and depicting his parents were Sam Waterston
as Dennis Shepard and Stockard Channing
as Judy Shepard. The film won a Primetime Emmy Award
in 2002 in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Stockard Channing
's performance as Judy Shepard. The film's cast also includes Kristen Thomson
, Joseph Ziegler, Makyla Smith
, Damien Atkins and Wendy Crewson
. The ending featured Elton John
's song about Shepard, "American Triangle", from his album Songs from the West Coast
.
The film seeks to illuminate the decisions Judy and Dennis Shepard had to make as to whether the death penalty
should be sought for their son's killer. Throughout the movie there are several flashbacks of Matthew's life. It also shows the experiences and hardships Matthew endured throughout his life from junior high through college, including his first kiss, his first boyfriend and a rape scene.
Matt Roush of TV Guide
criticized the film as unoriginal, and NBC for scheduling it on the same night as HBO's The Laramie Project, which Roush felt was the far superior effort. Roush opined that although The Matthew Shepard Story had some merit, and that some might even be moved by it, its decision to open with a depiction of Shepard's murder was "grotesque", and that overall, it did not possess the depth of Project.
Reverend Fred Phelps
, who condemns Shepard and all homosexuals to a merciless eternity in hell. But Seckinger meets many more—students, teachers, parents, and clergy—wrestling with painful complexities, speaking out and taking action.
(R-NC). It was released theatrically by Cowboy Pictures and on DVD by Sovereign Entertainment in 2007. Written and directed by Tim Kirkman
, the film won numerous awards and was nominated for the Emmy Award
for writing (nonfiction feature film) in 2000 after airing on the HBO/Cinemax "Reel Life" series. An interview with Matthew Shepard appears as a postscript in the first-person narrative at a political rally at Catawba College
in Salisbury, NC, a small liberal arts school Shepard attended briefly in 1996.
Titus
, a dark sitcom from Fox
, had Christopher Titus
mentioning the death of Shepard when dealing with Tommy, whose father was beaten by Titus' friends because of his homosexuality.
The Matthew Shepard incident and the subsequent introduction of the Matthew Shepard Act
inspired a story arc which spanned several episodes in the first season of The West Wing.
, W. S. Merwin
, and Harold Norse
:
recorded her poem "Dive" about Matthew Shepard on her 2004 album Swarm.
wrote this song and it's featured on his 2010 album First of the Last to Know. In concert he performs it without a microphone usually in the middle of the audience.
co-wrote her song "Above the Clouds" with Jeff Beck
for her 2005 album The Body Acoustic
in tribute to Matthew Shepard. Lauper's True Colors Tour 2007 for Human Rights provided information to fans, and a purple wristbands with the slogan "Erase Hate" from The Matthew Shepard Foundation
. A dollar from every ticket sold was earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign
, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian
, bisexual
and transgender
people.
and Bernie Taupin
wrote the song American Triangle which appeared on the 2001 album Songs from the West Coast
with Rufus Wainwright
on backing vocals. The song is dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard.
recorded their song "And Sadness Will Sear" on their 2006 album The Crusade
.
recorded his song "The Ballad of Matthew Shepard" on his 2006 album Sugar Queen
.
recorded the song "Cheyenne" on their 2001 album Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit
.
recorded the song "Did You Just Say “Faggot”?" on their 2005 Self-Titled EP.
recorded their song "Fear and Loathing in Laramie" on their 2003 album A Calculated Use of Sound
.
wrote a poem "For Matthew Shepard" in her 2006 book Facts about the Moon.
wrote and performed the song "God Loves Everyone" on his 2002 album Cobblestone Runway
. Reviewer Adrien Begrand said that "God Loves Everyone", "inspired by the brutal murder of gay Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, is a simple, acoustic song that is a wrenching plea for tolerance that sounds especially poignant these days."
recorded their song "Hinterland" on their 2006 album Trouble Pilgrim
recorded their song "Incinerate" for their 2006 album Masochist
.
recorded the song "Into the Sun," listing Shepard among "decent men" who had been killed, for her 2000 album Blood Red Cherry
. It was also released as a single. The album and single were charted hits in Canada.
recorded the Thea Hopkins' song "Jesus Is On The Wire" for their 2004 album In These Times. The Matthew Shepard story-song is described by Peter, Paul and Mary as "... one of the most important songs we have sung in recent years."
recorded her song "Laramie" on her 2001 album Stag about Shepard.
recorded their song "Laramie" on their 2003 album Twilight
.
wrote and performed the song 'Matthew' - about Matthew Shepard - for her 2004 album Billie's Bones.
wrote and recorded a song about The Laramie Project production titled "M. Shepard" for their 2004 album War All the Time.
dedicated her song "Merman" to Shepard throughout her '98 tour.
wrote and recorded the song "Poster Child", which appeared on their second album Where Are You, Bambi Woods?. The song and its impressive videoclip is a tribute to Matthew as well an indictment to hate crime.
recorded the song "Sacrifice" on their 2001 album Starts With You.
released the song "Scarecrow
" on the album Breakdown. This ballad
uses the image of a scarecrow because the bicyclist who found Shepard's body first thought that it was scarecrow lying in the fields. In her autobiography The Truth Is... she said that she and some of her friends, including Ellen DeGeneres
organized a trip to the Denver hospital. Etheridge said that Shepherd's death made her especially sad since he looked like a gay friend of hers in high school which made her "cry uncontrollably."
wrote the song "Scarecrow" and performs it with Rufus Wainwright
on the 2002 album &. The CD liner notes describe the song as evoking "the empty plains of Wyoming, the scene of the death of its subject, Matthew Shepard."
recorded "Scarecrow" for their 2010 album, The Hope Division
, their song "'Sounds" appeared on their 2002 album Zero Church. The liner notes to the CD say that the lyrics to "Sounds" were written by the poet Karen Bashkirew in response to Matthew Shepard's murder.
recorded "That Ain't Right", a song by Sage Francis
, on their 2003 album Hope.
recorded the song "Trouble the Waters" on their album Driving to Damascus, released in 1999. The song has a reference to Matthew Shepard's murder.
.
recorded their ambient
album 2002 Lullaby with a set of 10 songs on Matthew Shepard. Song titles include "he hade the smell of Wyoming sagebrush" and "we miss matt terribly".
. Details Matthew's life from birth to death, the aftermath, trial, media coverage and Judy's work with the Matthew Shepard Foundation
.
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998...
murder, investigation and resulting interest the case brought to hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
issues. The best known is the stage play The Laramie Project, which was adapted into an HBO movie of the same name
The Laramie Project (film)
The Laramie Project is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Moisés Kaufman. Based on the play of the same name, the film tells the story of the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming...
. Matthew Wayne Shepard was an openly
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
university student who was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
in October 1998 and left for dead by his attackers. Shepard later died from intracerebral hemorrhage and hypothermia. The incident was a major news story and this case brought national attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. His two assailants, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, were convicted of the crime and imprisoned. Henderson is serving two consecutive life sentences
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
and McKinney is serving the same but without the possibility of parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
.
People in the entertainment industry expressed outrage and responded in various ways to the attack. Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
hosted Shepard's memorial services in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Three narrative films were made about the Shepard story: The Laramie Project (based on the play of the same name), The Matthew Shepard Story and Anatomy of a Hate Crime. The Laramie Project and The Matthew Shepard Story both won numerous awards. The documentary film Laramie Inside Out focuses on the murder's effect on the Laramie community in the aftermath of the murder.
The Laramie Project (2000)
The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés KaufmanMoisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 33 Variations and is perhaps best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project...
and members of the Tectonic Theater Project
Tectonic Theater Project
With Moisés Kaufman at the helm, the Tectonic Theater Project explores the ways in which experimentation with form and structure can inform theme in contemporary drama....
about the reaction to the murder of Shepard. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries and published news reports.
The Laramie Project (2002)
The Laramie Project is a 2002 drama filmDrama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 33 Variations and is perhaps best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project...
, and based on his own play of the same name mentioned above. The film feature an all-star cast. It premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
d at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was first broadcast on HBO on March 9, 2002. The film was praised by TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
s Matt Roush for its emotional range, its examination of homophobia, and the unique investigation at its center, saying that viewers would be "enlightened" by it.
The Matthew Shepard Story (2002)
The Matthew Shepard Story is a televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
movie about the trial of the killers of Matthew Shepard. It premiered on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on March 9, 2002, the same night as HBO's The Laramie Project. It starred Shane Meier
Shane Meier
Shane Meier is a Canadian actor who is probably most notable for playing the title role in The Matthew Shepard Story, a TV movie about the life and murder of Matthew Shepard....
as Matthew Shepard, and depicting his parents were Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
as Dennis Shepard and Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
as Judy Shepard. The film won a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
in 2002 in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
's performance as Judy Shepard. The film's cast also includes Kristen Thomson
Kristen Thomson
Kristen Thomson is a Canadian actress and playwright.Thomson was born in Toronto, Ontario. She is known for her one-woman play I, Claudia, which was adapted to film in 2004...
, Joseph Ziegler, Makyla Smith
Makyla Smith
Makyla Smith is a Canadian actress.She is best known for her supporting role as Justin's best friend Daphne on Queer as Folk...
, Damien Atkins and Wendy Crewson
Wendy Crewson
-Life and career:Crewson was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of June Doreen and Robert Binnie Crewson. She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she won the prestigious Lorne Greene Award for outstanding work in the theater. She then studied at the Webber Douglas Academy...
. The ending featured Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's song about Shepard, "American Triangle", from his album Songs from the West Coast
Songs from the West Coast
Songs from the West Coast is the twenty-seventh studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released worldwide on 1 October 2001. Many critics have said that this album brought John back to his piano-based musical roots. He once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin....
.
The film seeks to illuminate the decisions Judy and Dennis Shepard had to make as to whether the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
should be sought for their son's killer. Throughout the movie there are several flashbacks of Matthew's life. It also shows the experiences and hardships Matthew endured throughout his life from junior high through college, including his first kiss, his first boyfriend and a rape scene.
Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
criticized the film as unoriginal, and NBC for scheduling it on the same night as HBO's The Laramie Project, which Roush felt was the far superior effort. Roush opined that although The Matthew Shepard Story had some merit, and that some might even be moved by it, its decision to open with a depiction of Shepard's murder was "grotesque", and that overall, it did not possess the depth of Project.
Laramie Inside Out (2004)
Laramie Inside Out is a 2004 documentary that explores the repercussions of Matthew Shepard's murder on the town of Laramie, Wyoming in the year following his death. Filmmaker Beverly Seckinger, who grew up in Laramie, was compelled to return to her hometown to see how this event had altered the site of her own closeted adolescence. Along the way she meets "God-hates-fags" Westboro Baptist ChurchWestboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
Reverend Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
, who condemns Shepard and all homosexuals to a merciless eternity in hell. But Seckinger meets many more—students, teachers, parents, and clergy—wrestling with painful complexities, speaking out and taking action.
Dear Jesse (1998)
Dear Jesse is a 1998 documentary film about the U.S. Senator Jesse HelmsJesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
(R-NC). It was released theatrically by Cowboy Pictures and on DVD by Sovereign Entertainment in 2007. Written and directed by Tim Kirkman
Tim Kirkman
Writer and director Tim Kirkman was born on November 2, 1966 in Monroe, North Carolina, the third child of a public school educator and a music teacher, and spent his childhood in nearby Wingate, North Carolina....
, the film won numerous awards and was nominated for the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for writing (nonfiction feature film) in 2000 after airing on the HBO/Cinemax "Reel Life" series. An interview with Matthew Shepard appears as a postscript in the first-person narrative at a political rally at Catawba College
Catawba College
Catawba College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in Salisbury, North Carolina, USA. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its current home of Salisbury...
in Salisbury, NC, a small liberal arts school Shepard attended briefly in 1996.
Television
In the episode "A Private Life" of the HBO television series Six Feet Under, a gay man is brutally murdered in a way that mirrors Matthew Shepard's death.Titus
Titus (TV series)
Titus is an American dark comedy sitcom that debuted on Fox in 2000. The series was created by its star, Christopher Titus, Jack Kenny, and Brian Hargrove...
, a dark sitcom from Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, had Christopher Titus
Christopher Titus
Christopher Todd Titus is an American comedian and actor. He grew up in Newark, California. Titus came to national attention with the eponymous FOX show Titus, of which he was the star, executive producer and co-creator...
mentioning the death of Shepard when dealing with Tommy, whose father was beaten by Titus' friends because of his homosexuality.
The Matthew Shepard incident and the subsequent introduction of the Matthew Shepard Act
Matthew Shepard Act
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, is an American Act of Congress, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010...
inspired a story arc which spanned several episodes in the first season of The West Wing.
Blood & Tears: Poems for Matthew Shepard (1999)
An anthology of poemteeds by seventy five poets in tribute to Matthew Shepard. The poets include John AshberyJohn Ashbery
John Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, W. S. Merwin
W. S. Merwin
William Stanley Merwin is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin's writing influence derived from...
, and Harold Norse
Harold Norse
Harold Norse was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse was widely published and anthologized.- Life :Born Harold Rosen to an unmarried Lithuanian Jewish immigrant in Brooklyn...
:
"Dive" (2004)
Spoken word poet Andrea GibsonAndrea Gibson
Andrea Gibson born April 22, 1975 is an award-winning poet and activist. She currently lives in Colorado. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, and today's struggles facing non-heterosexual people. Gibson disclosed that she chose to write what was in her bones and thus these subject...
recorded her poem "Dive" about Matthew Shepard on her 2004 album Swarm.
"The Fence (Matthew Shepard's Song)" (2010)
Peter KatzPeter Katz
Peter Katz is an award winning film producer and innovator of Neurocinema. He has produced critically acclaimed genre films that have screened at the AFI Fest, Rome Film Festival, as well as the New Zealand International Film Festival. He was one of the producers on Mortuary, which was helmed by...
wrote this song and it's featured on his 2010 album First of the Last to Know. In concert he performs it without a microphone usually in the middle of the audience.
"Above the Clouds" (2005)
Cyndi LauperCyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
co-wrote her song "Above the Clouds" with Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
for her 2005 album The Body Acoustic
The Body Acoustic
The Body Acoustic is the ninth studio album released by Cyndi Lauper. It consists of ten previously released tracks which have been re-recorded and re-arranged acoustically, as well as two entirely new songs. The album title is a play on Walt Whitman's poem I Sing the Body Electric, with the word...
in tribute to Matthew Shepard. Lauper's True Colors Tour 2007 for Human Rights provided information to fans, and a purple wristbands with the slogan "Erase Hate" from The Matthew Shepard Foundation
Matthew Shepard Foundation
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT rights group founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year-old son, Matthew, who was murdered in Wyoming in October 1998.-The Matthew Shepard Point Scholarship:...
. A dollar from every ticket sold was earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...
, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
people.
"American Triangle" (2001)
Elton JohnElton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
and Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
wrote the song American Triangle which appeared on the 2001 album Songs from the West Coast
Songs from the West Coast
Songs from the West Coast is the twenty-seventh studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released worldwide on 1 October 2001. Many critics have said that this album brought John back to his piano-based musical roots. He once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin....
with Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
on backing vocals. The song is dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard.
"And Sadness Will Sear" (2006)
TriviumTrivium (band)
Trivium is an American heavy metal band from Orlando, Florida, formed in 1999. Signed to Roadrunner Records, the band has released five studio albums, eleven singles, and twelve music videos...
recorded their song "And Sadness Will Sear" on their 2006 album The Crusade
The Crusade (album)
-Reception:* Allmusic [ link]* IGN * Kerrang! * Metal Hammer * Rolling Stone * Sputnikmusic * Total Guitar -Personnel:Trivium*Matt Heafy – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars*Corey Beaulieu – lead and rhythm guitars...
.
"The Ballad of Matthew Shepard" (2006)
Brian HoustonBrian Houston (musician)
Brian Houston is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His style varies from Christian to roots and mainstream-orientated.-Discography:*Crush *Sex, Love & Religion *Good News Junkie...
recorded his song "The Ballad of Matthew Shepard" on his 2006 album Sugar Queen
Sugar Queen
Sugar Queen is a studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Brian Houston.- Track listing :# "End of the Beginning" # "Childish Things" # "A Woman's Touch" # "Sugar Queen" # "These Days"...
.
"Cheyenne" (2001)
Good RiddanceGood Riddance
Good Riddance was a punk rock band from Santa Cruz, California. They released seven full-length studio albums on Fat Wreck Chords, and their final album was a live recording of their farewell concert in 2007. Led by vocalist Russ Rankin, the band's longtime lineup included guitarist Luke Pabich,...
recorded the song "Cheyenne" on their 2001 album Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit
Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit
Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit is the fifth album by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band Good Riddance, released July 10, 2001 through Fat Wreck Chords. It was their only release ever to chart, reaching #32 on Billboards Independent Albums chart...
.
"Did You Just Say “Faggot”?" (2005)
DangersDangers
Dangers is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
recorded the song "Did You Just Say “Faggot”?" on their 2005 Self-Titled EP.
"Fear and Loathing in Laramie" (2003)
Protest the HeroProtest the Hero
Protest the Hero is a Canadian progressive metal band from Whitby, Ontario. Originally named Happy Go Lucky, the band line-up has remained the same since their formation in 1999. The band changed their name to Protest the Hero shortly before releasing their debut EP, Search for the Truth, in 2002...
recorded their song "Fear and Loathing in Laramie" on their 2003 album A Calculated Use of Sound
A Calculated Use of Sound
A Calculated Use of Sound is an EP released by Protest the Hero in 2003. It was later re-released in 2004 with re-mastered tracks, a remade cover with a black color scheme, and an additional song titled "Soft Targets Make Softer Graves"....
.
"For Matthew Shepard" (2006)
Dorianne LauxDorianne Laux
Dorianne Laux is an American poet.-Biography:Laux worked as a sanatorium cook, a gas station manager, and a maid before receiving a B.A. in English from Mills College in 1988. Laux taught at the University of Oregon...
wrote a poem "For Matthew Shepard" in her 2006 book Facts about the Moon.
"God Loves Everyone" (2002)
Ron SexsmithRon Sexsmith
Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...
wrote and performed the song "God Loves Everyone" on his 2002 album Cobblestone Runway
Cobblestone Runway
Cobblestone Runway is a 2002 album from Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith. The album also features a second version of the song "Gold In Them Hills" as a bonus, featuring a duet vocal with Coldplay's Chris Martin...
. Reviewer Adrien Begrand said that "God Loves Everyone", "inspired by the brutal murder of gay Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, is a simple, acoustic song that is a wrenching plea for tolerance that sounds especially poignant these days."
"Hinterland" (2006)
The Radiators From SpaceThe Radiators From Space
The Radiators From Space are an Irish punk rock band. The band formed in 1975 in Dublin, originally under the name Greta Garbage and the Trashcans, and consisted of Philip Chevron , Pete Holidai, Steve Rapid, Jimmy Crashe and Mark Megaray. They were one of the earliest punk rock bands...
recorded their song "Hinterland" on their 2006 album Trouble Pilgrim
"Incinerate" (2006)
ElysiaElysia (band)
Elysia was an American deathcore band from Shingle Springs, California. Originally called Elysium's Revenge, the band was started in 2003 while the members were just freshmen and sophomores in high school. Since 2003, they have released two EPs and one full-length album, and have completed two US...
recorded their song "Incinerate" for their 2006 album Masochist
Masochist (album)
Masochist is the first full-length album by deathcore band Elysia. It was originally planned to be released on This City Is Burning Records, but problems forced them to release it independently. Plans for a re-release on the Tribunal Records label also fell through, when the drummer quit right as...
.
"Into the Sun" (2000)
Jann ArdenJann Arden
Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Arden was born and raised near Calgary in Springbank, Alberta and attended Springbank Community High School. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1993 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You"...
recorded the song "Into the Sun," listing Shepard among "decent men" who had been killed, for her 2000 album Blood Red Cherry
Blood Red Cherry
Blood Red Cherry is an album by Canadian singer/songwriter Jann Arden, released in 2000 .-Track listing:All songs written by Jann Arden and Russell Broom, except where noted#"Waiting in Canada" – 3:43#"Cherry Popsicle" – 3:37...
. It was also released as a single. The album and single were charted hits in Canada.
"Jesus Is On The Wire" (2004)
Peter, Paul and MaryPeter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
recorded the Thea Hopkins' song "Jesus Is On The Wire" for their 2004 album In These Times. The Matthew Shepard story-song is described by Peter, Paul and Mary as "... one of the most important songs we have sung in recent years."
"Laramie" (2001)
Amy RayAmy Ray
Amy Elizabeth Ray is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released four albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemon Records....
recorded her song "Laramie" on her 2001 album Stag about Shepard.
"Laramie" (2003)
Massachusetts hardcore punk band The Suicide FileThe Suicide File
The Suicide File was a short-lived American hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts that formed in April 2001. The band wrote songs with a mostly political message, although many songs also dealt with social and personal problems. Most of the band's output was released on the Southern California...
recorded their song "Laramie" on their 2003 album Twilight
Twilight (The Suicide File album)
Twilight is an album from Boston, Massachusetts hardcore punk band, The Suicide File. It was released in January, 2003 on Indecision Records.-Track listing:#"Twilight" – 1:31 #"Edge of Town" – 1:24...
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"Matthew" (2004)
Janis IanJanis Ian
Janis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
wrote and performed the song 'Matthew' - about Matthew Shepard - for her 2004 album Billie's Bones.
"M. Shepard" (2004)
The New Brunswick, New Jersey post-hardcore band ThursdayThursday (band)
Thursday were an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formed in 1997, the group has released six full-length albums, their most recent being No Devolución, which was released in April 2011 on Epitaph Records...
wrote and recorded a song about The Laramie Project production titled "M. Shepard" for their 2004 album War All the Time.
"Merman" (1998)
Tori AmosTori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
dedicated her song "Merman" to Shepard throughout her '98 tour.
"Poster Child" (2008)
A balladeerA balladeer
A Balladeer is a Dutch band, originating in Amsterdam, It was formed by singer-songwriter Marinus de Goederen.In 2002, the band won the 3FM BuZz Award and another award the following year at the final of the annual Dutch musical contest De Grote Prijs van Nederland...
wrote and recorded the song "Poster Child", which appeared on their second album Where Are You, Bambi Woods?. The song and its impressive videoclip is a tribute to Matthew as well an indictment to hate crime.
"Sacrifice" (2001)
Best RevengeBest Revenge
Best Revenge is a queercore punk band from Los Angeles, CA. They were active as a studio and live act from the beginning of 1998 until December 2002.-History and Founding:...
recorded the song "Sacrifice" on their 2001 album Starts With You.
"Scarecrow" (1999)
In 1999, Melissa EtheridgeMelissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
released the song "Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Melissa Etheridge song)
"Scarecrow" is a single from Melissa Etheridge's 1999 album, Breakdown.- Content :This ballad tells the story of the kidnapping, torture, and homicide of 21-year-old University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, motivated by anti-gay sentiment...
" on the album Breakdown. This ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
uses the image of a scarecrow because the bicyclist who found Shepard's body first thought that it was scarecrow lying in the fields. In her autobiography The Truth Is... she said that she and some of her friends, including Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
organized a trip to the Denver hospital. Etheridge said that Shepherd's death made her especially sad since he looked like a gay friend of hers in high school which made her "cry uncontrollably."
"Scarecrow" (2002)
Kristian HoffmanKristian Hoffman
Kristian Hoffman is an American musician. His sister is writer Nina Kiriki Hoffman.-History:Singer/songwriter Kristian Hoffman first emerged during the late 1970s as songwriter and keyboardist for New York City cult favorite the Mumps, and was also an active figure in the No Wave, performing...
wrote the song "Scarecrow" and performs it with Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
on the 2002 album &. The CD liner notes describe the song as evoking "the empty plains of Wyoming, the scene of the death of its subject, Matthew Shepard."
"Scarecrow" (2010)
American hardcore band, Stick To Your GunsStick to Your Guns
Stick to Your Guns is an American hardcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 2003. They are currently signed to Sumerian records, and have released three full-length albums to date. "The Hope Division" was released June 1, 2010 through Sumerian Records.-Biography:Stick to Your Guns is...
recorded "Scarecrow" for their 2010 album, The Hope Division
"Sounds" (2002)
Performed by Suzzy & Maggie RocheThe Roches
The Roches are a female vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.The Roches have been active as performers and recording artists since the mid-1970s,...
, their song "'Sounds" appeared on their 2002 album Zero Church. The liner notes to the CD say that the lyrics to "Sounds" were written by the poet Karen Bashkirew in response to Matthew Shepard's murder.
"That Ain't Right" (2003)
Non-ProphetsNon-Prophets
-History:The duo came to people's attention with their first effort, the "Drop Bass" b/w "Bounce" 12" single on Emerge Music in 1999. The follow-up release came in 2000 as the "All Word, No Play" vinyl single....
recorded "That Ain't Right", a song by Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, on their 2003 album Hope.
"Trouble the Waters" (1999)
Big CountryBig Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1981. They were most popular in the early to mid-1980s, but they still release material for a cult following...
recorded the song "Trouble the Waters" on their album Driving to Damascus, released in 1999. The song has a reference to Matthew Shepard's murder.
"What Matters" (2000)
Randi Driscoll recorded the song "What Matters" for as an "official benefit single" for the Matthew Shepard FoundationMatthew Shepard Foundation
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT rights group founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year-old son, Matthew, who was murdered in Wyoming in October 1998.-The Matthew Shepard Point Scholarship:...
.
Lullaby (2002)
If ThousandsIf Thousands
If Thousands is an American drone band from Duluth, Minnesota. Since releasing their debut album "Candice Recorder" in 2001, the band has toured the U.S. with Low. If Thousands' music has been featured on NPR. Christian McShane also performed with Charlie Parr in the band Devil's Flying Machine...
recorded their ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
album 2002 Lullaby with a set of 10 songs on Matthew Shepard. Song titles include "he hade the smell of Wyoming sagebrush" and "we miss matt terribly".
The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed (2010)
By Matthew's mother, Judy ShepardJudy Shepard
Judy Shepard is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998...
. Details Matthew's life from birth to death, the aftermath, trial, media coverage and Judy's work with the Matthew Shepard Foundation
Matthew Shepard Foundation
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT rights group founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year-old son, Matthew, who was murdered in Wyoming in October 1998.-The Matthew Shepard Point Scholarship:...
.
External links
- Songs for Matthew Shepard - List of 56 songs.
- The Laramie Project Official website
- Laramie Inside Out film website
- Family Values Ground 'The Matthew Shepard Story' By John Crook (Zap2it.com)
- The Tectonic Theater Project's website
- Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
- The University of Wyoming Rainbow Resource Center