Posted by Tina
“The Book of Matt – Hidden Truths About the Murder of Mathew Sheppard,” written by an award winning gay journalist and writer, Stephen Jimenez, alleges that the homophobic narrative of the Mathew Sheppard murder was exaggerated, if not almost entirely fabricated. The book, promoted as in the tradition of Truman Capote’s famous, “In Cold Blood”, is sure to cause considerable discussion and push back in the gay community, as well as among high profile supporters that made Mathew Sheppard a gay icon, the tragic victim of homophobic hatred.
Breitbart has the story and also links to a story in the Advocate where Aron Hicklen asks:
“How do people sold on one version of history react to being told that the facts are slippery — that thinking of Shepard’s murder as a hate crime does not mean it was a hate crime? And how does it color our understanding of such a crime if the perpetrator and victim not only knew each other but also had sex together, bought drugs from one another, and partied together?”
I haven’t read this book but the most interesting thing about it for me after reading the articles is that it points to the lengths to which activists will go to change our culture and laws. The radical left gay community has no problem using distortion and lies to create emotional fervor. That fervor is also fueled by the creative community in plays, songs and dedications. Manufacturing Americans as villains, perpetuating the myth that homophobia is rampant in our culture, and that the violence homosexuals experience is part of the fabric of our entire culture, rather than a sordid and sad aspect of a sub-culture, is justified, in their eyes, as a means to an end. As the article in the Advocate acknowledges:
For many of us, the crime was not simply one family’s tragedy — it symbolized our vulnerable, uncertain place in the world. For many heterosexuals it challenged the myth of America as a guarantor of equality and liberty.
All that soul-searching may have felt necessary, especially in light of the legislation the case inspired, but was it helpful in getting at the truth? Or did our need to make a symbol of Shepard blind us to a messy, complex story that is darker and more troubling than the established narrative?
The writer asks this of the gay community rather than the nation at large. But if I were asked I would be compelled to say that I resent the implication that because homosexuals sometimes have horrible personal experiences it is somehow the “fault” of “homophobic” America or that it means America is “not a guarantor of equality and liberty”. I don’t deny the challenges that face people of the LGBT community but they are their challenges. Placing the responsibility on others only perpetuates powerlessness.
Adults of all stripes must learn to resolve personal issues along the road to adulthood. Everyone has lessons to learn and must decide how to best organize life in a way that will keep them safe and secure. None of us has the same considerations but all of us should realize that for the most part it is our choices and our attitude that determine how life plays out. Mathew Sheppard, along with the young men who shared his lifestyle and were ultimately found guilty of murdering him, were living a destructive, dangerous lifestyle. The drugs they were using alone made their chances of survival very limited. It made their chances of personal satisfaction in life impossible. Three lives were destroyed because these boys failed to mature into healthy, decent, respectful, contributing, citizens. This is the sad narrative behind the Mathew Sheppard case that was buried in a myth and that needs to be addressed.
The exploitation of this crime is part of a seedy social/political game…one that Americans would do well to reject.