Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder became a symbol for the gay rights movement, will be interred at Washington National Cathedral; The Washington Post, October 11, 2018

Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post; Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder became a symbol for the gay rights movement, will be interred at Washington National Cathedral

[Kip Currier: A powerful story, particularly appropos today on National Coming Out Day (see here and here), affirming every human being's right to dignity, respect, and equality.]

"When Matthew Shepard died on a cold night 20 years ago, after being beaten with a pistol butt and tied to a split-rail wood fence, his parents cremated the 21-year-old and kept his ashes, for fear of drawing attention to a resting place of a person who was a victim of one of the nation’s worst anti-gay hate crimes.

But now with the anniversary of their son’s murder approaching on Friday, the Shepards have decided to inter his remains inside the crypt at Washington National Cathedral, where gay-equality activists say they can be a prominent symbol and even a pilgrimage destination for the movement. Although the cause of LGBT equality has made historic advancements since Shepherd was killed, it remains divisive in many parts of a country reembracing tribalism of all kinds.

The 1998 killing of Shepard, a University of Wyoming student, by two young men in a remote area east of Laramie, Wyo., was so horrific that his name is on the federal law against bias crimes directed at LGBT people."