Bells chimed softly, a flute slowly played “Morning Has Broken” and thousands filled the soaring nave of the Washington National Cathedral for the interment of Matthew Shepard, the young man whose murder 20 years ago marked the start of a country’s turning on gay rights.
The service began with Bishop Gene Robinson, whose elevation in the early 2000s as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church was another huge — and controversial — milestone in the push for LGBT equality, choking back tears as he welcomed the crowd of about 2,025 people.
“Many of you have been hurt by your own religious communities," Robinson said. "And I want to welcome you back.”
Matthew Shepard’s father, Dennis Shepard, thanked those in Cathedral, and the scores of others watching the live-streamed service online, for “helping us take Matt home.”
“It’s our responsibility as members of a certain age to pass those stories down to explain that the progress that we have made has come through a lot of trials and tribulations.”
“It is so important we now have a home for Matt," Shepard, 69, said. “A home that others can visit. A home that is safe from haters."
The father recalled his son’s love for the Episcopal church, growing up in Sunday school and as an acolyte in their church at home in Wyoming.
The service at the Cathedral, the second-largest cathedral in the country and host of many presidential memorial services, was similar in structure to a formal Episcopal funeral, with bishops' sermons and choirs and scripture readings. For Shepard’s family and friends, it serves as a celebration of his life that wasn’t possible at the tumultuous time of his 1998 murder, when anti-gay protesters screamed at funeral-goers. Tensions were so fierce at his funeral that his father wore a bulletproof vest under his blue suit.