Matthew Shepard Foundation

Mission

The Matthew Shepard Foundation’s mission is to amplify the story of Matthew Shepard to inspire individuals, organizations and communities to embrace the dignity and equality of all people. Through local, regional and national outreach, we empower individuals to find their voice to create change and challenge communities to identify and address hate that lives within our schools, neighborhoods and homes.

Foundation Story

On October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was brutally attacked and tied to a fence in a field outside of Laramie, Wyoming and left to die. On October 12, Matt succumbed to his wounds in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.

In the aftermath of Matt’s death, his parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, started the Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor his life and aspirations. Inspired by the tragedy they endured, the initial purpose of the Foundation was to teach parents with children who may be questioning their sexuality to love and accept them for who they are, and to not throw them away.

Through their personal appearances across the country and around the world, Judy and Dennis Shepard are changing hearts and minds by sharing Matt’s story and highlighting the importance of standing up for the LGBT community.

Impact

With the initial purpose of teaching parents how to love, accept and support their children who may be questioning their sexuality, the Foundation has remained nimble in its efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community, where most needed, throughout the years. Since our formation, we have provided a variety of programs and resources, in addition to lending Judy & Dennis’ voices to legislation across the country, resulting in a variety of successes including helping to pioneer the country’s first federal hate crimes legislation with the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009; providing hate crimes prevention training to over 1,400 law enforcement officers and prosecutors between January 2018 and October 2021; creating dialogue that has been shared around the world to address the hate that exists in our schools, neighborhoods and homes; and building a robust collection of resources to support The Laramie Project, Considering Matthew Shepard, and other legacy works inspired by Matt’s story. 

It is our sincerest hope that, one day, the Foundation may be able to close its doors. But the same hate and violence that sparked the Foundation’s formation still exists today, both at home and abroad. The Matthew Shepard Foundation will continue to work tirelessly to ensure safety, visibility and inclusiveness for the entire LGBTQ+ community until that ideal becomes reality.