Vigil Held for Slain Gay Man

A candlelight vigil to protest the slaying of a gay Wyoming student drew about 400 people to West Hollywood on Monday night, many of whom contended that it could have been them.

“None of us know Matthew Shepard, but any of us could have been in his shoes,” said Ged Kenslea of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the groups that sponsored the West Hollywood candlelight vigil and protest march. “That’s what makes the incident so real and so chilling to us.”

Shepard, 22, who was found pistol-whipped, burned and tied to a wooden ranch fence last week, died Monday. Police arrested two men and two women and said that robbery was the chief motive but that the victim was chosen in part because he is gay.

Karen Mall, an AIDS activist who addressed the crowd at Monday’s protest, said she also has been attacked because she is gay.

“I was in college and I was walking in a park when a man came toward me. . . , “ Mall said. “He called me a bull dyke and jumped me. He pushed me, gave me a black eye and bashed my head in the asphalt. The Matthew Shepard incident brought it all back to me. I can no longer be silent.”

A number of speakers called for federal hate crime legislation and shared feelings of grief and frustration. Many carried placards with slogans such as: “End Gay Bashing,” “Remember Matthew Shepard” and “Right Wing Hate: Matthew Died For Your Sins.”

Speakers said the beating was the culmination of the anti-gay agenda being pushed by “the religious right.”

“The hate-mongering being spewed daily by right-wing religious groups and the politicians they control led us to this incident,” Kenslea said. “Hate speech leads to hate crimes.”

West Hollywood Mayor Steve Martin said many gay residents of the city used to live in cities where they were subjected to harassment.

“Even though gay people feel much freedom in West Hollywood, they can still relate to what happened in Wyoming,” he said. “Our office has been getting phone calls all day from people who are stunned and angry about what happened. Gathering tonight was cathartic for us. But it was also a way to say to the rest of the country that we’re not going to let our young people continue to be victims.”

Another vigil is planned at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Metropolitan Community Church in West Hollywood.