Judy Shepard is basically the hardest working gay rights activist in the universe. The Wyoming-based mama has been campaigning nearly non-stop for a decade, since her son Matthew was beaten and left for dead.

Sure, fighting for inclusive hate crimes law's ain't easy, but Shepard says it's worth it.

"I'm just somebody's mom who got really angry at the system and felt I had the opportunity to make a change," Shepard said.
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Her stump speech brings Matthew to life — his strong opinions, passion for politics, generous nature, short temper. It's also peppered with references to hope and barbs at the Bush administration.

The work is exhausting, but it has kept her family from becoming victims, she said in an interview afterward.

"In my own mind, speaking like I did today, that is my grief process," Shepard said. "I get to keep Matthew with me."

Another thing she'll keep with her - a distaste for his killers. There's no forgiving and forgetting here: "It's not a part of my process… I don't blame them 100 percent. I sort of blame society for creating the environment to make them think they could get away with it." Wag that finger, mama!

Lawrence King's February murder continues to garner press. And, as we saw in The Advocate last month, some wonder whether King's queer candor and flirtation invited gun man Brandon McInerney's ire.

Consider Mississippi State University student Lazarus Austin's recent op-ed:

By imposing his homosexuality on McInerney, he may have set McInerney off. McInerney may not have had an innate hatred of gay people. In fact, he may have tolerated homosexuality, while simultaneously thinking it was immoral, sinful or simply "uncool," like many people do. King, however, may have gone too far by imposing his sexuality on others. Although King by no means deserved his fate, he may have unfortunately invited it.

So gross.

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Can being openly gay and out invited attack? Sure, yes, definitely. Should gay kids such as Lawrence King thus be encouraged to keep a lid on their lavender ways? That's what some people say journo Neil Broverman advocates in a new Advocate article: "Mixed Messages," which is currently excerpted on the magazine's website.

The piece definitely packs a punch and has some readers doubled over in pain, particularly this paragraph:

If they didn’t see the execution coming, most of King’s peers at school knew he was being bullied for being proudly gay and flouting male conventions by accessorizing his school uniform with eye shadow and high-heeled boots. In the months leading up to that morning, King had undergone a metamorphosis.

Guided by a welcoming support system at the group home where he lived, the teenager was encouraged to dress as he pleased and live as the person he wanted to be.

What King and others didn’t recognize was that this encouragement—and his response to it—placed him on a collision course with a culture that found him repulsive.

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In the wake of Lawrence King's murder, Portia de Rossi, TR Knight, Andre 3000 and a slew of other stars joined gay station Logo to raise awareness about anti-queer hate crimes. Because, as Janet Jackson says, "None of us are safe until all of us are safe". The politics of fear being used for good? Crazy!

It's absolutely super that Logo and these celebrities have come together, but they again raise a serious question: what makes one hate crime more notable than the next? Should one central figure be used to fight a universal campaign. We suppose the pros outweigh the cons on this one, but it's still something that should be considered.

Watch the video, after the jump…

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Is nothing sacred!? A troublesome trio assaulted a number of gay folk at a Dallas area gay club last week:

[Sid Gonzales] said he tried to be friendly and make small talk with the trio. But he said he was not trying to hit on the men, whom he described as straight-looking, well-dressed and college-aged.

When Gonzales asked a few questions, the woman responded but the men said nothing and looked uncomfortable, he said.

Gonzales said he reached out to shake hands with one of the men. The man grabbed Gonzales’ arm, twisted it in the air and slammed it against a knee. Gonzales said the first man also stabbed him in the hand with an unidentified object, while the second began kicking him in the backside.

"I think it was a hate crime," Gonzales said. "They weren’t there to have fun. They were there to pick fights with queers."

Gonzales went for security following the incident, but couldn't find them: apparently they were tied up with some other homos who had encountered the men and woman.

The Dallas Police Department has yet to assign an officer to the case. Shocking, right?

There's nothing like a girl fight in the morning! While Jennifer L. Pozner appreciates Ellen DeGeneres' Lawrence King call to action last week, the journalist takes offense at the funny lady's pre-message message: "I don't want to be political, this is not political…" Writes Pozner:

I could be wrong, but hearing Ellen qualify her outrage at a gay child's murder and her call for wide-spread cultural change in America by saying "This is not political" seemed to map to her discomfort in addressing serious and, yes, political LGBT issues on air after what happened to her career the last time she did that. A hate crime resulting in a kid being killed simply for asking a boy to be his Valentine is not political? Talking about the way the entertainment industry encourages a culture of violence against queer youth is not political? And encouraging citizens to make gay rights an election year issue is not political?

Wait, are these rhetorical questions, because, if not, we'd like to answer yes to all. Or is it no? God, this political shit's confusing!

Anderson Cooper and his CNN team took a look at the Lawrence King murder last night. In addition to telling us what we already know - King was shot by a 14-year old class mate - the 360 journos point out that the shooter, Brandon McIrney, may have been "humiliated" by King's school yard crush.

Do we smell a gay panic defense?

Floridian 17-year old Simmie Williams Jr. found himself dead this weekend after being gunned down in a drive by shooting. Friends and police suspect hate may have been a motivating factor, for Williams often dressed as a girl and, in fact, was dressed to the nines at the time of his death:

Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was attacked on the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard by two young men who wore dark clothing and might live in the neighborhood, police said. Williams, who was wearing a dress and was known in the area by his first name or as "Chris" or "Beyonce," was shot about 12:45 a.m. Friday and soon afterward died at Broward General Medical Center, police said.It's unclear what Williams was doing in the area, about four miles from his house, but police are investigating whether he was working as a prostitute, officials said.

Williams' mother said her son was openly gay, but she didn't know what he did when he went out at night, and she didn't know he wore women's clothes.

Broward County gay rights organizations are angry over Williams' death, of course but, as Equality Florida's Nadine Smith says, not surprised: "We can be horrified, but we cannot be surprised. Just 10 days ago, 15 year-old Lawrence King was gunned down in California." Isn't America supposed to be "the best" country in the world? Why, then, do we keep hearing stories of dead queer teenagers. This shit's really depressing!

We've also included the official EF press release after the jump…

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We knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear that 15-year old Lawrence King has been taken off the ventilator after being shot by a classmate last week. Sources speculate the alleged shooter may have shot King for being too effeminate. A hate crime charge has officially been filed against 14-year old Brandon McInerney.

An estimated 1,000 people marched in Oxnard, California this weekend to pay their respects to King and raise public awareness of homophobic violence.

Watch the AP death video after the jump.

[Rainbow Alliance video via Joe.My.God]

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Students continue to mourn in Oxnard, California this morning.

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