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October 15, 2018

Ashes of Murdered Gay Student Matthew Shepard Interred at National Cathedral
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And in Washington, D.C., Episcopal church leaders have interred the
ashes of gay college student Matthew Shepard in the National Cathedral.
In 1998, Shepard, who was just 21-years-old, was lured from a Laramie,
Wyoming bar, robbed for $20 cash, lashed to a fence, bludgeoned in the
head with a pistol and left to die on the prairie. His killing shocked
the conscience of the nation and spurred the LGBTQ rights movement. In
2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded hate
crimes laws to cover those targeted over their sexual orientation.


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