Vigil Marks Anniversary of Slaying of Gay Student

Across the street from a West Hollywood park that bears the name of Matthew Shepard, a gay college freshman who was brutally murdered, more than 100 gay activists held a vigil Tuesday night to mark the one-year anniversary of the crime.

Shepard, 21, a University of Wyoming student, died five days after he had been found pistol-whipped, burned and tied to a ranch fence in Laramie.

The crime galvanized the gay and lesbian community and became a rallying point in the push for hate crime laws.

“He could have been anybody’s kid. He cuts to the issues as far as awareness of hate crimes goes,” said Joe Delaplaine, spokesman for the Stonewall Initiative for Equal Rights, a gay and lesbian grass-roots organization.

The vigil was held at the Matthew Shepard Human Rights Triangle, a small park at Santa Monica and Crescent Heights boulevards.

Participants sang civil rights songs and decried other hate crimes that have occurred across the country.

City Councilman Steve Martin said that six months ago he initiated the effort to name the park in honor of Shepard because his “murder struck a deep chord in this city. We wanted to raise concerns about hate crimes. A hundred thousand people come down Santa Monica Boulevard every day.”

Prosecutors in Wyoming have contended that that Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson lured Shepard from a bar, robbed him of $20 and a credit card, and beat him.

Prosecutors said the two men singled out Shepard because he was gay.

They admitted to police that they pretended to be gay so that Shepard, who was 5-feet-2 and 105 pounds, would leave the bar with them.

On Monday, jury selection began in the murder trial of McKinney, 22, who was accused of instigating the attack. If convicted, McKinney could face the death penalty.

Henderson, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced in April to two consecutive life terms.

Shepard’s family has appeared with U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno as part of a campaign to persuade Congress to designate attacks on gays and lesbians as federal hate crimes.

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act has been passed by the Senate and must still be considered by the House. An element of the bill, which the gay and lesbian community considers critical, would add sexual orientation to the categories covered by the act.