Judy Shepard Brings 'Erase the Hate' Message to ICNY & LGBT Center
By BRUCE-MICHAEL GELBERT
photo by Stas’ Kmiec
A proclamation from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn naming October Matthew Shepard Foundation Month was pre sented at a speaking event with Judy Shepard hosted by The Imperial Court of New York and the LGBT Center. Left to right, ICNY Empress XXIII Anne Tique and Emperor XVIII Tony Monteleone, Judy Shepard and Andrew Tweadie of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, ICNY Board President Gary Cosgrove, Eric Bottcher, GLBT Community liaison for Christine Quinn's of fice, International Court Council President Thom Hansen, International Court Council member Rob DiSanto.
On behalf of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, the young gay man brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998, brought her message of "Erase the Hate" to New York City's LGBT Community Center, in an event hosted by the Imperial Court of New York (ICNY) and the Center, on May 19. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the criteria defining hate-motivated violent crimes, and for which Judy Shepard has vigorously campaigned during the last decade, passed the United States House of Representatives on April 29 and awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate.
Judy Shepard offered encouragement concerning the legislation, saying, "Success is possible now, because grass-roots activism is meeting opportunity in the form of enlightened leadership," and urged contacting senators to tell them to vote for it, adding, "They need to know it matters to you."
At the event, Eric Bottcher, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's GLBT Community Liaison, presented Judy Shepard with a proclamation from the speaker declaring this coming October Matthew Shepard Month in the City of New York. During that month, the International Court Council and ICNY, its local chapter, will hold fundraisers throughout the country for the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
