Matthew Shepard, in Remembrance

Ten years ago, on October 7th, 1998, Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die near Snowy Mountain View Road in Laramie. On October 12th, 2008 he passed away at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, CO.

This incident could have happened in any state, in any town in America. But it happened here, in Wyoming, the Equality State. When people from around the U.S. think of Wyoming, they often think of this incident. It is a violent, ugly blemish in our state history.

Here in Wheatland the Autumn temperatures are dropping into the 30's when the sun goes down. I couldn't help today but to think of Matthew Shepard and the suffering he went through ten years ago, just an hour away from here. It saddens me deeply.

The word we need to be using today is acceptance. Tolerance, in my view, is just not good enough.