The Public Deliberation of Matthew Shepard and Hate Crime Legislation
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The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Fall 12-1-2020 Navigating Hate: The Public Deliberation of Matthew Shepard and Hate Crime Legislation Abigail Barnes Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, and the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Barnes, Abigail, "Navigating Hate: The Public Deliberation of Matthew Shepard and Hate Crime Legislation" (2020). Master's Theses. 788. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/788 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NAVIGATING HATE: THE PUBLIC DELIBERATION OF MATTHEW SHEPARD AND HATE CRIME LEGISLATION by Abigail Barnes A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Communication at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by: Dr. Paul Strait, Committee Chair Dr. Laura Alberti Dr. Laura Stengrim December 2020 COPYRIGHT BY Abigail Barnes 2020 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if the permissibility of the symbol is violated, the discourse surrounding Shepard becomes polemic. Second, I argue that private organizations are not only used to advocate on the behalf of private citizens, but in the case of hate crime prevention organizations, they are dually asked with being the primary center of information for private citizens. Finally, I argue that the legislative discourse surrounding HCPA’s communicate to the public the government’s position on the inclusion of vulnerable communities. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my advisor, Dr. Paul Strait of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Communication. The door of his office and home of Dr. Strait and Dr. Alberti was always open for questions, crises, and support whenever I needed it. The project’s current form would not be possible without his guidance, patience, and encouragement. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Laura Alberti and Dr. Laura Stengrim. To Dr. Alberti, I owe my understanding of the theories used to guide this study. Further, her rigorous analysis of the project served to strengthen the proposed arguments. Dr. Laura Stengrim provided key insights into contextualizing the study within queer history as well as innovative directions to continue the project’s ongoing discussion. Next, I would like to thank my family for their continuous prayers, patience, and support throughout my studies. Finally, I am also eternally grateful for members of my cohort, Vera Landrum and Lauren Grant, for their friendship and encouragement through our studies. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION, RELEVANT LITERATURE, AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY ............................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review............................................................................................................ 4 Rhetoric and Social Movements ................................................................................. 4 New Social Movement Theory ................................................................................... 7 Public and Private Sphere ........................................................................................... 8 Replacing Shepard’s voice with the event ................................................................ 10 Shepard’s memory and legislation ............................................................................ 16 Research Design............................................................................................................ 18 Data ........................................................................................................................... 18 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 21 Research Significance ............................................................................................... 22 Outline of the Study .................................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER II – LOCATING SHEPARD IN PUBLIC DELIBERATION ...................... 25 Naming a Hate Crime ................................................................................................... 25 National and Local Protests and Vigils ......................................................................... 30 iv Counter-Protests ............................................................................................................ 36 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER III - RHETORICAL DIMENSIONS OF LEGISLATORS AND INTEREST GROUPS ........................................................................................................................... 42 The Matthew Shepard Foundation ................................................................................ 42 Hate Crime Prevention Act Rhetoric ............................................................................ 46 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 48 CHAPTER IV – CERTAINTY AND LEGISLATION.................................................... 52 Symbolic Legislation .................................................................................................... 52 A Decade of Uncertainty and Reporting ....................................................................... 54 Analyzing Social Knowledge of Hate Crimes and Uncertainty ................................... 56 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER V – CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 62 Locating Shepard in Public Deliberation Findings ....................................................... 63 Naming the Event ..................................................................................................... 63 National and Local Protests and Vigils ..................................................................... 64 Counter-Protests ........................................................................................................ 65 Chapter Conclusions ................................................................................................. 65 Rhetorical Dimensions of Deliberative Rhetoric and Private Organizations Findings 66 The Matthew Shepard Foundation ............................................................................ 67 v Chapter Conclusions ................................................................................................. 68 Certainty and Legislation Findings ............................................................................... 69 Symbolic Legislation ................................................................................................ 70 A Decade of Uncertainty and Reporting ................................................................... 71 Analyzing Social Knowledge of Hate Crimes and Uncertainty ............................... 71 Chapter Conclusions ................................................................................................. 72 Final Discussion ............................................................................................................ 72 The Role of Shepard’s Memory ................................................................................ 73 The Role of Private Organizations ............................................................................ 75 The Role of Legislation ............................................................................................ 76 Limitations and Future Research .................................................................................. 77 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 78 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HCPA Hate