WEBVTT - ‘The second Stonewall’: Matthew Shepard’s lasting legacy 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.600 Hi everyone. I'm Katie Kuric and this is next question. 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:07.560 You Know, when I looked back at my forty year 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.479 career in media, one of the things that stands out 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:14.720 to me is the seismic cultural shift we've seen for 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.640 the majority of my career, really into the last couple 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.800 of years. So much of the news has been filtered 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:26.360 through an incredibly narrow, mostly white sist mail lens, whether 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.159 it was the people who were interviewed, the questions that 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:33.200 were asked, or the people who asked them. Good morning, 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.159 this is Today. I'm Frank Mee d And here are 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:40.800 the headlines. Good morning, Here's what's happening. Here begins something New. 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.519 I'm Charles Calf and this is Wilt is here with 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.280 Maria Schreiber visiting is Today. It's going to have you, Maria. 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.800 Good evening, the CDs Evening News with Walter Tronka. This 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.720 is NBC Likely News with John Chance of All in 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:57.120 New York, Harry Reisner and Barbara Walters, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.880 Sam Donaldson. I'm Frank Reynolds and I'm Howard K. Smith 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:04.400 in Washington. Good morning everyone, I'm Tom Brokaw on Today 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.559 with the newest member of the Today Family, Jane Pauli, 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.959 who comes to us from Indiana and Chicago. And as 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:13.720 I said earlier, any family would be happy to welcome 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:18.119 someone so bright and energetic and enterprising and just incidentally 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.000 pretty as well. Charlotte, do you agree with that? Yes, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.320 I wish you were younger. You know, I ask you 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:29.240 not to do that. Yikes, Gene. Fortunately, some things have 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.520 changed since then, and not just for women. The activism 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.080 we've seen against racism in the wake of police brutality, 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:41.800 the push for pay equity across industries, the continued pressure 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:45.160 from the Me Too movement, the wave of lgbt Q 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:49.480 representation in so many arenas are all getting us to 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:54.680 a more inclusive, enlightened place. I reflected on these changes 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:58.000 in my memoir, and when I look back, there's one 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.360 interview for me that stands out up as a prime 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:05.400 example of how far we've come. Coming up in this 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.400 half hour, it was a crime that shocked the entire nation. 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.919 It was February. Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.760 University of Wyoming, was found beaten and tied to a 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.160 fence last fall. A cyclist passing by said he resembled 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.800 a scarecrow. Shortly afterwards, Matthew Shephard died and now his 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:26.800 parents are talking for the first time. I interviewed Matthew's parents, 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.440 Judy and Dennis, on The Today Show. This was just 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.880 four months after their son was brutally beaten and left 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.280 for dead, four months after his death became a national 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:42.160 story and a clarion call for gay rights. What do 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.960 you think matt would have thought of all this because 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.400 to some he's he's become almost a martyr. Well, it's 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.760 a very frightening concept as a parent that your son 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.680 now becomes a martyr and a figure of public figure 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.040 for the world. He's just our son. We talked about 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.520 what matt was like, always a loving and kind, gentle 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:05.400 spirit who had respect for everyone's views, and how they 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.560 reacted when he told them he was gay. He was 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.600 our son. We would have accepted and loved him and 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.840 support him no matter what decisions he made. And then 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.880 having said that, was it a bit hard to accept 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:18.720 at all? You want to see your son or your 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:25.640 daughter uh have grandchildren so that the family tree continues. 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:30.480 It was hard to accept the fact that it stops here. 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:35.520 Listening to it now, I'm struck by how differently the 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.920 subject of having a gay child was treated back then. 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.680 I brought this up recently when I interviewed the Scottish 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:47.040 actor and queer icon Alan Cumming, pointing out how dated 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.760 this line of questioning feels now. I think it so 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.280 much actually has changed. And since you know and and 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:55.720 and then you cous Matthew Shepard was a huge turning point, 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.760 I think. And that was actually right when I first 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.240 came to New York. That's when I was doing cabaret, 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.560 remember it. But I think those things, those it's like, 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:08.360 it's like, you know, stuff pre me too. Stuff sounds 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.640 now so like how insane could we have put up 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.119 with all that? But actually what you're talking about when 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:14.600 you said that to him, that is very much how 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.200 people thought in those days. It's it does it is dated, 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:21.640 but it's it's not it's not offensive. It wasn't offensive. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:23.800 I meant from any pace of offense. It's just really 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:27.359 interesting how things in certain areas sometimes changed so fast. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:32.320 And thank God that we have got a generation of 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.240 young people who are coming up who don't I think 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:38.080 in the same way that we we weren't brought up 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.479 in the same way that we are who have grown 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:45.279 up with the possibility of otherness all around them. I 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:50.279 am so kind of heartened by the young when it 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.880 comes to lgbt Q acceptance. Matthew Shepard, as Alan Cumming 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.479 just said, was in many ways the turning point in 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:02.719 this country. He is gruesome. Death sounded the alarm and 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:06.520 inspired a whole new generation of activists to fight for 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:12.440 the equality and protections the LGBT community deserved. I've been 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.279 lucky enough to interview the Shepherds in the years since. 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:20.320 In fact, Judy came on my talk show. In day 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.280 to day it changes. Sometimes it seems like it was 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.360 just yesterday, as you said, or a hundred years ago. 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.880 It's every day is a brand new day. Still, after 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:33.679 fifteen years, it never gets easier for those who loved 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:38.800 matt His life and death impacted so many, and on 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.840 today's episode this Thanksgiving week, just a few days shy 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:46.320 of what would have been his forty five birthday, we 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:52.360 explore Matthew Shepherd's legacy through one of those people who knew, loved, 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.200 and was inspired by him. I will apologize if there's 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.279 times that I get terry and I cry, because it 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.040 just means so much to me to be doing what 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.599 I'm doing, and um, sometimes I get a little bit 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.359 of overwhelmed because life has come full circle for me. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.919 Jeff Matt was a friend of Matt's at the University 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.840 of Wyoming. They met through the LGBT There wasn't a 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:18.520 queue yet group on campus. The LGBT group was just 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.800 our great way of all getting together and knowing each other. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:27.800 And Matt was such a nice, sensitive person, super smart, 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.839 would give you the shirt off his back, was just 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:36.599 always just so so kind um, and someone you always 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.800 wanted to go have a beer with, or you know, 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.560 hang out with, or talk politics with, and you know, 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:43.880 wanting both wanting to be in politics. It was It 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.280 was fun to be able to talk about that today. 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.080 Jeff is the newly appointed executive vice president of the 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:56.760 Matthew Shepard Foundation, an lgbt Q education, outreach and advocacy 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:01.240 organization started by Judy and Dennis. I cried in every 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.520 interview for this job, and I said, I said to 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.120 everybody's like, I don't cry during job interviews, but this 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.640 just means so much to me, and carrying on his 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:14.880 legacy just means so much. I grew up in Wyoming. 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:17.360 I grew up in a town of a eighty people 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.880 called Chugwater, Wyoming, and I grew up ten miles outside 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.640 of that on a farm, and gay wasn't something that 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:28.280 people really knew, and if it was, it was something 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.240 that was was very, very bad. And uh. I went 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.200 off to school at the University of Laramie, very University 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:39.480 of Wyoming, Laramie, and was not out. I was a 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.640 fraternity member, and I left to go work for my 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.480 fraternity on the East Coast and came back and was 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.320 admissions council. So I was about three three and a 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:52.360 half years older than Matt, and you know, I was young, 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:55.360 and I joined the LGBT R. I was a part 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:57.400 of the LGBT group because I couldn't join it because 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:58.880 I was not a student. But I was a young 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:02.480 professional and that was my That was my outlet to 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.920 to be gay. And getting to know Matt through the 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.920 LGBT group and having that safe space was my only 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.560 outlet while I was in in Laramie. Wasn't out to 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:17.480 my family, wasn't out to anybody. And when um, when 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:22.160 Matt died, I was actually on a work trip and 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.760 one of my colleagues got sick and couldn't go on 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.160 the recruiting trip, and so we drove up to Jackson 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:30.240 that week to do a recruiting trip for the university. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:35.240 And uh, our boss Kathy called one morning and was 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:41.319 the morning that Matt was found. Sorry, it just I mean, 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.600 twenty plus years later, it just still gets me. And um, 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:49.360 Kathy goes with you, please sit down, And so I 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.920 sat down and Cathy told me that Matt had been 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:56.760 found tied to a fence post and was in critical 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.920 condition in Fort Collins and she said come home now. 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:04.000 And it was a couple of days later that he 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.360 then died. Uh. So then through that entire next year, 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.920 it was all of us trying to just figure out 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.880 what was going on with our lives. We really bonded together. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.240 The group really tried to start doing some activism and 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:23.640 so that really at that moment, gave me the introspect 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:26.880 to go is admissions where they need to be. And 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.720 you look at so many of Matt's friends and we've 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.600 all kind of gone in our own paths. I took 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.800 the path of I was just like, I have to 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:39.920 save the world. I have to do something. Jeff left 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:44.000 the small town of Laramie, Wyoming and his admissions job 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:48.200 at the university. He moved to big cities Denver first, 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:52.240 then l a and Washington, d C. Weaving his passion 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.760 for lgbt Q activism with the nonprofit World. He worked 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:00.280 for the Human Rights Campaign, the Outfest film Fest, Stable, 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.720 the American Red Cross, and the Kennedy Center for the 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:07.720 Performing Arts. The thing that has happened through all of this, 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:14.800 Judy kind of became my adopted virtual mom. Judy has 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:19.360 seen me grow as you know, this kid who's too 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.760 scared to be in the Larmie Project because he didn't 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.480 want people to think he was gay, to see me 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:29.320 grow as a professional. I wasn't too much older than 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.400 Matt Um. It always breaks my heart thinking that if 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:33.920 I had been there that week, would I have got 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:36.680 out for a drink with him? You know, would we've 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.000 would would would something else have been different? You know? 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.680 I used to go karaoke at the fireside and you 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.760 know it was it was one of those places that 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:49.360 we would go to and we never felt in danger 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:53.120 until that happened. I was I had never been called 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:57.720 faggott or anything like that. Um, And so Larmie changed 0:10:57.720 --> 0:10:59.679 in a way and that's one of the reasons why 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.680 I decided to leave, because I needed to see the 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.199 big city, and I wanted to go out and change 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:09.880 the world. And coming back here and seeing what the 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.720 foundation has done, and Judy and Dennis just going and 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.320 talking to people has really put a face to it 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.160 and has helped people understand that being an ally is very, 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:24.199 very important. Still to this day. Judy and Dennis launched 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:30.319 the Matthew Shepherd Foundation on their son's birthday December one, 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.520 and in the twenty three years since, the organization and 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.280 Judy and Dennis have had a huge impact on legislation, 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.520 lobbying for marriage equality, over turney, don't Ask, Don't tell, 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:48.960 fighting job discrimination policies, and most profoundly, this afternoon, I 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.680 signed in the law but Matthew Shepard and James Burd Jr. 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:57.440 Hate Crimes Conventional, a bill that was also named for 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.240 James Bird Jr. A Texas man who was brutally killed 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:06.640 by three white supremacists just a few months before Matthew's murder. 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.800 Judy and Dennis work so hard to get the Hate 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:13.080 Crimes Prevention Act, and that was two thousand and nine, 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.520 and so that took ten years ten to get This 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.520 is the culmination of a struggle that has lasted more 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:25.080 than a decade. Time and again, we faced opposition, time 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:29.160 and again the measure was defeated or delayed. Time and again, 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.480 we've been reminded of the difficulty of building a nation 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.959 in which we're all free to live and love as 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:40.960 we see fit. What the Act did was greatly expand 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:45.760 the government's ability to prosecute federal hate crimes, including now 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.720 for the first time, those crimes motivated by a victims 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:56.360 sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. It's passage twelve years 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.960 ago was historic, and it still stands as a land 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:06.120 mark piece of legislation when we come back. How Matthew 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:19.760 Shepard inspired a new generation of activists. By the nineteen nineties, 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:24.760 the culture Wars were raging. Everything from abortion to religion 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:29.319 to women in the military sparked vicious debate, but none 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:34.520 more so than gay rights. The agenda that Clinton and 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:40.320 Clinton would impose on America, abortion on demand, a litmus 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:46.679 test for the Supreme Court, homosexual rights, discrimination against religious schools, 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.360 women in combat units. The tension at the time is 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:53.760 pretty well represented and pap you can inspire e speech 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:59.000 at the Republican National Convention. There is a religious war 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.920 going on in this country. It is a cultural war 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.240 as critical to the kind of nation we shall be 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.440 as the Cold War itself. For this war is for 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.920 the soul of America. We had in that struggle for 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.520 the soul of America. Clinton and Clinton are on the 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:24.360 other side, and George Bush is on our side. Meanwhile, 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.520 I can't even say the word. Why can't I say 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.240 the word? I mean, why can't I just say? Gay 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:33.280 life was making its way into the nation's living rooms 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:40.040 like never before. I'm gay. You know, Ellen came out 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:46.520 and had repercussions and lost her show when matt was killed. 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:48.840 I think Will and Grace came out just a couple 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.800 of months before that. It's not that not that big 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.520 a deal. You just jumped into Jack's arms. Last time 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.760 a woman did that. A woman has never done that. 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:02.880 We we weren't seeing our images on mainstream TV. We 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:07.360 were either a stereotype or an add on character. So 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:14.800 what smooth Still, But Matthew's death in many ways turned 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:20.120 the tide culturally and politically. You know, I hate to 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:21.880 always say it, and I think people have said it, 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.720 but Matt's death was the second Stone Wall, and it 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:30.600 really invigorated everyone to really stand up for themselves. You 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.920 saw something that was so tragic and so hate filled, 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.880 and it just rallied the community in a way that 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.840 hadn't been seen in a long long time. And you know, 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:47.600 you often see such a huge tragedy will will rally communities, 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.560 and I think it's those kind of things that awaken 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:56.880 people and shock people and then they get shocked into action. 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.080 And I think everyone got shocked into action by that 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:05.400 good evening. Matthew Shepherd was not a cause, He was 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.200 not an issue. Matthew Shepherd was a young man who 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.720 had a future and was denied that future. All the 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.000 candlelight vigels, the best tribute we can get to Matthew 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.360 is to cherish life every day. It really brought a 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:26.600 lot of allies out. I am a wife, heterosexual, raised 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:32.440 as a Catholic Republican, and I am so ashamed of 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.160 my people right now. It brought a lot of people 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.200 who you wouldn't necessarily anticipate would be an activist or 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.440 would go out and you know, March, I am so 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:58.960 piste off. I can't stop crying. And it just hit 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.400 me why I am so devastated by it. It's because 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.159 this is what I was trying to stop. This is 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:11.600 exactly why I did what I did. It happened all 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.439 over the country, it happened all over the world. It 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.480 really brought attention to you know, this is this is 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:22.640 a problem, and the you know, everyone's like they're asking 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.560 for special rights, and you know, we were like, no, 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:28.919 we're asking for for equal rights. And that helped the 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.840 allies get behind saying you know, yeah, they need these 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:36.240 protections and they need this. And it really just created 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.919 an army of young activists that spread out and and 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.480 shows the nonprofit world to to go. And I have 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:48.040 so many friends that decided to do it right at 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.439 the same time as me, and and matt was one 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:55.160 of the underlying issues, or one of the motivations for 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.040 for everybody to do that, to get out there and 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.159 make an impact, because it could have in any one 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:17.440 of us. We'll be right back. Thanks to the work 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:22.080 of organizations like the Matthew Shepherd Foundation and dedicated activists 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.840 inspired by his life and death, the last twenty years 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:31.879 have seen tremendous strides for the LGBTQ community. April of 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.639 two thousand Vermont made same sex marriage legal. One of 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:41.360 the big stories this week is Vermont. Vermont, of all places, 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.840 has pretty much okayed gay marriage. In two thousand nine, 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.760 the Matthew Shepherd and James Bird Hate Crimes Prevention Act 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.879 becomes law two thousand eleven. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:56.760 over in two historic breaking news coming out of Washington today, 0:18:56.880 --> 0:19:00.959 the Supreme Court strikes down the defensive Mary Jacked DOMA, 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:05.560 which became law nineteen nineties six. This is a major, 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:10.359 broadly written opinion which strikes down the law on the 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:16.560 ground that it discriminates against gay people. In President Obama 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:20.000 acknowledge the LGBT hugh community in his State of the 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.960 Union address. That's why we defend free speech and advocate 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:28.040 for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women or 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:32.680 religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.240 We do these things not only because they are likely. 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.359 In June of and I remember exactly where I was. 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:40.520 I was in a conference room in Boston when the 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.399 Supreme Court declare the same sex was a constitutional right. 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:47.040 All of us cried. It's profound. The five to four vote, 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.080 in many ways reflecting the huge societal shift of the 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:55.200 last twenty years. And then in the military will allow 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.720 transgender Americans to serve. Opening in the military may have 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:04.119 seen stonewall and became a national monument. In more than 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:09.440 a LGBD candidates were elected into office in the term elections. 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.280 Once Tuesday Night's victors are sworn in, for the first 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:14.879 time in history, the United States will have more than 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.840 a thousand LGBTQ officials serving at once. And then you know, 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:24.200 we started seeing more gay, lesbian, bisexual people on on TV. 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:34.520 The original show was fighting the tolerance, our fight dis acceptance. Hey, world, 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.600 there's a new power couple on the horizon cam and 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:41.960 Mitch kitch. No, that sounds weird, ma'am. We'll find it. 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.159 I wish I knew how to quit you. I'm not. 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:50.800 Don't get pregnant because I don't like having sex with men. 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:55.639 So anyway, I'm by. You're wearing a wedding dress to 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.119 my wedding. This is not a wedding dress. It's a 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.239 white floor link gown. It's very difference. Did it come 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.480 with a vell, No, it came in a head dress. 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:06.680 What I've been doing the show for ten years. I 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.640 still have the same haircut. I wear the same ten 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.760 dollar blazers Donald's. If you didn't like me, then you're 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:15.080 really probably not gonna like me now because I'm hosting 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:20.760 S and O and I'm like, so gay, dude, this 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:25.840 is Moonlight, the best picture, and I am here today 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:29.920 because I am gay. And now you know, later on 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.400 we're seeing more transgender people on on TV. Listen, doc, 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:37.280 I need my dosage. I've given five years, eighty thou 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:41.080 dollars and my freedom for this. I'm finally who I'm 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.840 supposed to be. Do you understand I can't go back. 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:48.920 I look at it this way. Brush always telling a 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:55.040 lie slive eyes whole life about who he is, and uh, 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:58.879 I can't do that any longer. Are you? Are you 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:00.840 saying that you're gonna start dress sing up like a lady? 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:09.040 All of my whole life, I've been dressing off like 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:14.200 a man. This is me. It's the little it's you know, 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.080 getting out of the shower and the towels around your 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:20.320 waist and you're looking at yourself in the mirror and 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:26.840 you're just like there I am today. It may be 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:31.159 a different world, but unfortunately the work to protect the 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:41.000 lgbt Q community must continue. In legislative session, over two 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:45.960 hundred and fifty potentially harmful lgbtach related bills were introduced 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:49.440 throughout the country, over half of which were anti trans 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:52.879 That is more than has ever been introduced in the 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:57.120 history of America. And so and I don't I don't 0:22:57.160 --> 0:22:59.480 think people know that. And I think if people knew that, 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:02.680 they want to pay a little bit more attention. So, 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:05.760 you know, we we have to stay virgins. I'm hopeful, 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:11.280 I'm optimistic, but have to be vigilant. What would life 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:15.200 look like for the LGBT community if we didn't have 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:18.480 that second wave and that second stone wall. You know, 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:21.640 I would prefer to have Matt here, But thank God 0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:27.560 something good came out of it. Being here is humbling 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.200 and it is inspiring, and I just want to do 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:35.840 right for the organization and really carry on the legacy 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:43.000 for for Matt. Thank you to my guest Jeff Mac 0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:49.960 and to everyone at the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Next week, 0:23:50.040 --> 0:23:53.680 on next Question, we're cooking up something special. I'm not 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:57.119 a podcast host. This is I'm moonlighting. This is not 0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:00.600 my full time gig. Alison Roman is here and she's 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:03.720 playing me. I'm going to take a quick breather from 0:24:03.760 --> 0:24:06.720 my whirlwind tour, But don't worry. I'll be back before 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:09.679 you know it, sharing my favorite moments from my cross 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:13.000 country trip. But until then, you're in good hands with 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:17.280 our guest host, the chef and cookbook author Alison Roman, 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:25.520 so stay tuned. Next Question with Katie Kurik is a 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:28.639 production of I Heart Media and Katie Kurk Media. The 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:33.520 executive producers Army, Katie Curic, and Courtney Litz. The supervising 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:38.640 producer is Lauren Hansen. Associate producers Derek Clemens, Adriana Fasio, 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:42.600 and Emily Pinto. The show is edited and mixed by 0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:46.399 Derrek Clemens. For more information about today's episode, or to 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:49.000 sign up for my morning newsletter, wake Up Call, go 0:24:49.160 --> 0:24:51.720 to Katie Currek dot com. You can also find me 0:24:51.800 --> 0:24:55.480 at Katie Curic on Instagram and all my social media channels. 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.879 For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:02.560 heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 0:25:02.680 --> 0:25:03.639 your favorite shows.