Mother of slain gay man will be guest speaker - to persuade cities to redefine human rights laws

kypost.com ^

[chance33_98]

Mother of slain gay man will be guest speaker

By Steve Jones Post staff reporter

The mother of a homosexual man murdered in an anti-gay crime will speak at a benefit for a local gay-rights group this month. Judy Shepard will speak June 25 at the second annual fund-raiser of the Northern Kentucky Fairness Alliance.

Shepard's son, Matthew, a 21-year-old gay college student, was killed after being beaten and tortured by two men in Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.

"Her son's story is a very poignant message, very timely. It's a message that we can't forget," said Mark Kallick, co-chairman of the NKFA event. Kallick said he expects Shepard to recount her personal experience in order to promote an expansion of gay rights and the need for greater tolerance of gays in society.

Kallick said he admires Shepard for her ability to recover from her son's death and then use the memory of it to express her message.

"When you've lost a child, I can't even imagine getting over it," Kallick said. "Then you add the fact that he was murdered and that it was a gay-hate crime, that would be huge. It would take a lot of courage to stand up and talk about it personally."

Kallick said he has never met Shepard, but from watching her speak on TV, he thought, "she was very impressive and commands a lot of attention."

The NKFA dinner, which will be held at Mike Fink's restaurant in Covington, will serve not only as a fund-raiser but also a celebration of the newly expanded human rights ordinance in Covington, Kallick said.

The ordinance, which was passed unanimously by the city commission in April and took effect May 10, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and other factors.

NKFA was a major lobbyist for the ordinance. Group representatives spoke regularly at public commission meetings and went door-to-door around Covington seeking support, Kallick said.

In the coming months, Kallick said NKFA would attempt to persuade other cities like Cincinnati and Newport to follow Covington's lead in redefining their human rights laws.Covington Mayor Butch Callery and the city commissioners have been invited to attend the fund-raiser as guests of honor, Kallick said.

A minimum donation of $75 is required to attend the fund-raiser. The event will begin with a cocktail party at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and Shepard's speech to follow. Kallick said NKFA hopes to raise about $10,000. Call (859) 491-3608 for information.

[Camber-G]

Its always difficult to attack the mother of a murdered child, lets see what happens ...

[Salman]

No new laws will ever make it safe to pick up rough strangers in a bar.

[AD from SpringBay]

Redefining human rights - based on sexual preference? Isn't that interesting. Straights are human. Gays are human. Murder is murder. If you kill a human, you kill a human, sans preference of victim. Somebody help me with the math because I don't see how they are different.

[Russell Scott]

A magnitude of order more people have been murdered for being adulterous than homosexuals in this country. Yet I don't see them going around asking for special anti-adultery discrimination laws.

[Kuksool]

Hate crimes legislation makes certain crime victims more deserving of protection than others. It runs afoul of equal protection. The murder of Matthew Shephard was a great evil. But it's also a crime to murder anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, race, gender or religion. People who commit such violent acts ought be arrested and tried for them. There's no need to make certain victims more important than another by a "hate crime" law.

[Bonaparte]

Wake me up when Jesse Dirkhising's mother speaks at a fundraiser for the rights of children against homosexual rape, torture and murder.

[Navy Patriot]

Wake me up when Jesse Dirkhising's mother speaks at a fundraiser for the rights of children against homosexual rape, torture and murder.

It certainly might upset the apple cart if Jesse's mom showed up at said Northern Kentucky Fairness Alliance and asked Judy Sheppard why homosexuals should have superior status, protection, and rights than us peons.

[Young Rhino]

There used to be a time when parents would grieve the loss of an adult offspring instead of using it (or being used) to advance politicial interests.

There are already laws on the books that protect gays...the same laws that protect heterosexuals. Assault is assault. Murder is murder. Period. Who cares why? The motives are irrelevant. It is the deed that is punished.

There is one distinction that needs to be made before some leftist whacko posts a response. There are times where legislation may be a good thing because the death of a child exposed something in the system that didn't work. The Amber alert is one such example, and Laci Peterson's parents promoting the rights of the unborn child is another.

This is very different from gays, disabled, minorities, dyslexic stammering worm farmers, etc., who already receive full protection under the law as human beings.

If you disagree, feel free to come out of the closet, put on that Barbara Streisand record as background music, and FLAME away.

[Bonaparte]

That could a real brawl. Especially if she showed up with a hundred former catholic choir boys asking Judy to explain why they all have size 9 poop chutes.