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US: 'Proud And Relieved': Matthew Shepard's Remains To Be Interred At National Cathedral

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The remains of Matthew Shepard, whose death became an important symbol in the fight against homophobia — and whose name is on a key U.S. hate-crime law — will be interred at Washington National Cathedral later this month.

Shepard's parents say they're "proud and relieved to have a final resting place for Matthew's ashes."

"This is incredibly meaningful for our family and for everyone who has known him," Judy and Dennis Shepard said in a statement emailed to NPR. "We'd been looking for just the right place to finally put Matt to rest, and we think this is the perfect fit and the perfect time."

News of Shepard's interment comes 20 years after he was tied up, savagely attacked and left for dead in October 1998. At the time, he was a 21-year-old college student in in Laramie, Wyo. His brutal murder attracted intense media coverage at the time and galvanized support for laws protecting the rights of LGBTQ Americans. His death has cast a long shadow across the two decades that followed — not only in newspaper headlines, but on stage and screen, too. The Laramie Project, a play focused on his killing, went on to become one of the most-produced plays in the U.S. and inspired a film adaptation.

The case also left a major impact on Capitol Hill, where the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed under President Obama in 2009. Byrd, whose name joined Shepard's in the bill's title, was an African-American man who was killed the same year as Shepard and was dragged behind a pickup truck by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas Read more via NPR