[HANASHIR:1451] (no subject)

[janeen kobrinsky <janeen...>]

October 10th, 1998

Dear Friends,

I've never sent out a letter like this before ... but Nathan and I, and our 
friends Mark and John, are deeply disturbed by this story in this morning's 
Fargo Forum ...an article about the beating, burning and near murder of a young 
gay man in Wyoming. 

His name is Matthew Shepard.  He is 22 years old and a student at the 
University of Wyoming.  
He is currently on a respirator and in critical condition at

            Poudre Valley Hospital 
           1024 S Lemay Ave
           Fort Collins, Colorado  80524-3929 


Please send flowers or cards to let this young man and the people around him 
know that he has the love and support of many unknown friends.  And please send 
this message on to all of your friends.  

with love and thanks,
Janeen and Nathan Kobrinsky
Mark Crowston and John Schoenecker

(AP)
    "Shepard was found Wednesday evening by a man on a bicycle who at first 
thought he was a scarecrow or a dummy because of how he was tied to the fence.
 
    He was unconscious, and his skull had been smashed with a handgun.  He also 
appeared to have suffered burns on his body and cuts on his head and face.  The 
temperature had dropped into the low 30's during the  more than 12 hours 
Shepard was left outside.
 
    He was in critical condition Friday on a respirator at Poudre Valley 
Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo.
 
    The victim, Matthew Shepard, 22, told friends he had suffered two other 
beatings recently that he attributed to his open homosexuality.
 
    Russel Arthur Henderson, 21, and Aaron McKinney, 22, were charged Friday 
with attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery.  They were ordered held on 
$100,000 cash bond. 
    Police accused the two men of luring the victim from the Fireside bar, a 
campus hangout, by telling him they were gay.  
    (Police) said the three drove off in McKinney's truck late Tuesday or early 
Wednesday.  He said the two men beat Shepard in the truck, then beat him some 
more after tying him to the fence about a mile outside Laramie.  They took his 
wallet and shoes..."
 
    Students at the college said that it's hard to be gay in Wyoming, "because 
of the good-ol'-boy network.  It's such a conservative state."  A college 
junior,  Kete Blonigen, said " I'm almost afraid and expecting someone to say, 
'He was gay.  What does it matter?'  I can totally see that happening."
 
"Efforts to pass hate-crime legislation in Wyoming have failed repeatedly 
because critics have said it would give homosexuals special rights."