News: Remembering Matthew Shepard

Ten years ago this week, the murder of Matthew Shepard rocked the Tori Amos fan community. If you were on any of the Tori mailing lists at the time (yes, this was in the olden days, before forums really took off), you remember what it was like: the horror, the shock, the disbelief, and the heartbreak that something like this could still happen in our world.

We’ve come a long way since then. I still can’t get over the fact that in many high schools, students are able to be openly gay now, something that was not remotely the case when I was in high school.

But we haven’t come far enough.

Shortly after graduating from high school, one of my friends killed himself because he was gay. Take that in: he killed himself because he was gay. All these years later, I still think about Robbie all the time. It’s something that will always haunt me. He wasn’t beaten and tied to a fence and left to die, but I believe if he had lived, he very well would have been. In the place and time where he lived, I believe he saw that coming and couldn’t live with the fear of that kind of hate day after day.

And even now, in 2009, there are places where that fear remains a reality.

No, we still haven’t come anywhere near far enough.

Jeremy Elder has written Merman, a touching essay in memory of Matthew Shepard. Please take a moment to read it and remember all the people who have suffered, even died, simply because they loved.