Writing October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard: An 11-Year Journey By Lesléa Newman for HuffingtonPost.com Writing October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard has been a long journey, one that took me over 11 years and began with a terrible coincidence. My journey began Oct. 12, 1998, the day I flew across the country to give a…
Two nights of powerful theatre and thoughtful discussion brought the story of Matthew Shepard’s murder and the aftermath of the crime to audiences in Peoria, Illinois. Susan Burk of the Matthew Shepard Foundation was a special guest for the opening of The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at Corn Stock Theatre…
Check back frequently for updated information or watch our Facebook, Twitter, and Judy’s personal Twitter. The Matthew Shepard Foundation is proud to announce the upcoming trip by Judy and Dennis Shepard to four European countries beginning later this month – Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Hungary. This is a unique opportunity for the Shepards to share beyond U.S. borders their story of…
Please join the Matthew Shepard Foundation for the Bear to Make a Difference Gala & Celebrity Teddy Bear Auction Saturday, October 13th, 2012 Seawell Grand Ballroom, Denver, Colorado In February of 2002, a group of passionate individuals put together an idea for a silent auction of teddy bears and would benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation.…
As you know, the Foundation holds a special place in its heart for Wyoming, the Shepard family’s home and MSF’s official headquarters where Judy Shepard and Susan Burk do much of their important work. You may not know that we continue to keep a keen eye on Wyoming’s public policy, school systems and especially its…
By Ben Hartman for the Jerusalem Post Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community came together for a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to commemorate the third anniversary of the shooting at the Bar Noar LGBT center in Tel Aviv that left two dead and at least 15 wounded. Held at…
A few weeks ago the Erie, Illinois school board banned The Family Book, by Todd Parr, a children’s book about different families and how they are all centered on loving their children. The President of the School Board doesn’t think that the book is appropriate for students in his school district and lead the charge…
Susan Burk reflects on the lessons to be drawn from the Notre Dame High School controversy and continuing tragedies facing LGBT youth: First And Last Just about a month ago, my inbox started to fill up. The emails were about a Catholic high school in New Jersey that had cancelled its upcoming production of “The…
A central Missouri public school system has agreed to stop filtering out resource sites for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students on computers in the library and elsewhere in the schools, settling a federal lawsuit that a student, the Foundation and three other LGBT advocacy groups filed last year. The settlement by the Camdenton R-III…
Shea Dietz, one of our youth bloggers for MatthewsPlace.com, is an activist and film maker. Breaking the Silence is his feature-length documentary exploring the issue of LGBT discrimination in schools. The story delves into why discrimination happens, the lack of support and outreach in some environments and the significant impact one voice can have. Shea…