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MANEO-News Berlin, 22.09.2012

A tour of Europe in remembrance of their son murdered in 1998.

Judy und visit Munich On a tour through eastern European countries, which was supported by the US State De- partment, Judy und Dennis Shepard arrived at their last stop, the capital of Bavaria. MANEO Project Director Bastian Finke helped with the preparation of their Munich pro- gramme and accompanied Judy and Dennis Shepard along with Dietmar Holzapfel owner of the hotel “Deutsche Eiche” 1. Judy and Dennis Shepard are the par- ents of Matthew Shepard who at 21 years old was murdered in October 1998 in Laramie (WY) in the USA. Two young men motivated by gay hate committed the murder. This crime cre- ated a public sensation and led to a large citizen movement in the USA to have hate crimes that are committed because of the sexual orientation of the victim also given an additional level of punishment under the existing “Hate Crime Law”. This was finally achieved in the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” signed into law by in 2009. Two films have now been pro- Reception at US Cunsul General in Munich (from left to right): Bastian duced about the appalling crime, “The Finke MANEO, US Consul General William E. Moeller and Judy and Den- Laramie Project”, and “The Matthew nis Shepard. © Foto: MANEO. Shepard Story”, both of which are available in German. In Munich, on the last Friday, there were discussions and meetings with the US Consul General William E. Moeller, with the anti-violence project from the Munich scene “sub”, and with members of a Munich school.

1 Deutsche Eiche is the oldest gay/lesbian meeting place in Munich.

Spendenkonto: Mann-O-Meter e.V. Bank für Sozialwirtschaft, BLZ 100 205 00, Konto: 312 60 00, Stichwort „MANEO“

MANEO ist ein eigenständiges Projekt von Mann-O-Meter e.V. – Mitglied im Arbeitskreis der Opferhilfen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ado) e.V. und im Deutschen Paritätischen Wohlfahrtsverband/ LV Berlin – finanziell gefördert durch die Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Integration, Arbeit und Soziales (SenIAS) – gewürdigt von der LANDESKOMMISSION BERLIN GEGEN GEWALT (2003) – ausgezeichnet mit dem METE-EKSI-PREIS (1999), dem CSD-PREIS FÜR ZIVILCOURAGE (2001) und dem Gewaltpräventionspreis CHANCE-AWARD (2006) – Partner von: SCHULE OHNE RASSISMUS/ SCHULE MIT COURAGE und der: „BERLIN ALLIANCE AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA“, der weiter angehören: KAMPANIA PRZECIW HOMOFOBII (Polen), Lambda-Warszawa (Polen), SOS-HOMOPHOBIE (Frankreich) und COGAM (Spanien). Organisator des MANEO-TOLERANZBÜNDNISSES, dem bereits über 90 Unternehmen, Events und Institutionen aus Berlin angehören. Standing Ovation The event on Friday at the Anton-Fingerle School was organised by the US-General Consulate. Attending were the 350 school students and their teachers, Judy und Dennis Shepard, John Crosby from the US-General Consulate in Munich, and Bastian Finke. The students gave a very warm welcome to their guests. The film “The Matthew Shepard Story“ was then shown, following this Judy und Dennis Shepard gave a speech and then an- swered questions from the students. The students were very impressed by their commitment and long standing engagement. They described the life of Matthew in- cluding how, at the age of 18, he told them he was gay. Judy Shepard said, “When Matthew said to me‚ Mum I’m gay, I answered, I’ve known that since 350 school students and their teachers attended an open discussion at you were 8”. He was very surprised Anton-Fingerle-Bildungszentrums in Munich: John Crosby, US Consul John Crorsby(2nd from left), Dennis Shepard (3rd from left) und Judy and I said to him, attentive mothers Shepard (3rd from right). © Foto: MANEO know these things quite early”. Dennis told the students: “Matthew said that he had something very important to tell me and asked if we could have a talk under 4 eyes. He then told me that he was gay. I answered‚ Okay, but what exactly did you want to tell me that was so important? After this talk we really had a father-son relationship“. With his death his parents have taken on the aims and hopes of their son and are committed to carrying them forward. Another moving moment occurred when one of the teachers took the opportunity to thank the Shepards for their commitment and then “came out” to those assembled there. The response to his courage from the more than 350 guests was a sustained standing ovation. During their stay Judy und Dennis Shepard also visited the former concentration camp of Dachau, where they received a presentation on the persecution of homosexuals and the murder of gay men in Dachau. During their tour of Dachau they were very impressed with the number of school groups they encountered which were visiting the memorial sites and exhibitions with their teach- ers.

US-State Department supported the European tour The “Matthew Shepard Foundation“ was created by Dennis und Judy Shepard in memory of their son who was murdered in October 1998 at the age of 21 in an anti-gay hate crime. The Founda- tion was created in order to carry forward the ideas and dreams of their son so that understand- ing, compassion, and acceptance come to replace hate, via a programme of education, face to face meetings, and democracy strengthening actions, and through it all a retelling of the story of Mat- thew Shepard. Visiting the former concentration camp Dachau (from left For three weeks from the beginning of September to right): Dietmar Holzapfel, Judy und Denis Shepard. © Judy und Dennis Shepard have travelled through Foto: MANEO. Eastern Europe carrying their message of acceptance and respect for others and support for hu- man rights for all, including those of LGBT people, und explaining the significance for the USA of the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act“ They have had local meetings with representatives of LGBT organisations, schools, youth groups, politicians, and government representatives. In all of these meetings they have stressed the importance of the commitment of parents to their LGBT children because of its fundamental importance for their development. Under the leadership of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the State Department embas- sies worldwide have adopted the human rights of LGBT people as a key objective as part of the campaign for human rights in general. Therefore the US embassies supported the visits of Judy und Dennis Shepard to Poland, Latvia, Estonia und Hungary with preparation of contacts and meetings and receptions for representatives of the governments, administrations, social figures, LGBT representatives, and the press.