NPR ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR 8:00 pm ET)

OCTOBER 15, 1998, THURSDAY

Wyoming Folk on Shepard

BYLINE: Noah Adams, Washington DC; Robert Siegel, Washington DC

The killing of Matthew Shepard is sparking lots of discussio in Wyoming. Some people believe the state needs an aggressive hate crime law. Others view the death of the gay student as a senseless, but unavoidable tragedy. Wyoming Public Radio's Heather Feeney reports.

NOAH ADAMS, HOST: This is NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Noah Adams.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: And I'm Robert Siegel.

Funeral ceremonies will be held tomorrow for Matthew Shepard, the young man beaten to death a week ago outside Laramie, Wyoming. Gay rights groups believe that Shepherd was attacked because he was homosexual. And they're leading the call for tougher hate crime laws.

Anti-gay protesters from Kansas plan to picket Shepherd's funeral, even as his family, friends and other Wyoming residents struggle to find the right way to respond to his death.

Wyoming Public Radio's Heather Feeney reports.

HEATHER FEENEY, WYOMING PUBLIC RADIO REPORTER: The death of Matthew Shepard has jolted the state of Wyoming in a way few things ever have, so much so that Wyoming Public Radio's phones were flooded Wednesday when lines were opened to talk about the case.

Some listeners took issue with state officials who have been trying to portray the incident as an isolated case. A caller from Big Horn Basin in North Central Wyoming said some state residents are in denial about how unwilling they are to accept people who are different.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: You can't get a job unless you know someone and they can vouch for you. This is terrible what goes on in this state. I mean, if you people want to keep denying what's happening, fine. But you know, you fool all the people. Everybody really knows what's happening and they look the other way. It's tragic, it's tragic for Matthew.

FEENEY: Another caller pointed to historical events as proof that a sub-culture of intolerance exists in Wyoming: from a massacre of Chinese railroad workers in 1885 to the construction of interment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II, and the Wyoming connections of the group that assassinated Denver talk-show host Alan Berg (ph) in 1984.

While no one has publicly condoned the killing a Shepard, a few have suggested that he is partly responsible, especially if reports that he flirted with the two men charged with his murder prove true.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Homosexuality is wrong. They need to make laws to outlaw homosexuality. It's against the laws of God and against the laws of nature. And we've already got laws in place to punish the individuals that killed this boy. That was wrong. But that boy's lifestyle is also wrong.

FEENEY: That attitude has raised anger among Shepard's fellow students at the University of Wyoming, where this is Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week. Zack Schneider (ph) spoke at a memorial service.

ZACK SCHNEIDER, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING STUDENT: Frankly, that pisses me off. That makes me very angry. Because being born and bread in Wyoming I feel that our youth are not taught to hate. We are taught to accept other people who they are, not what they are.

FEENEY: A caller from the resort community of Jackson suggested that the debate needs to be expanded to take in issues such as how Wyoming's economic situation, the use of alcohol, and education, might allow intolerance to grow. The caller was also concerned for the young child of one of the women charged as an accessory in Shepard's murder.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: It has to be an attitude change from the very beginning. I look at this four-month old child of one of the perpetrators, and I wonder how that child will manage to rise above this. How will we do something as a society to make sure that this child, too, gets a chance to live in a world that's better than the one that currently exists.

FEENEY: People in Wyoming have also begun debate on whether current state laws are enough to bring justice in the Shepard case or others that might involve hate crimes. Bill is one of 400 people who live in the town of Medicine Bow.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BILL, WYOMING RESIDENT: If we pass this legislation, it might raise our status among the states a little bit, whether or not it was a particularly big help in actual law enforcement.

FEENEY: The caller added that good publicity is something that the governor and legislators might understand.

The next opportunity to consider enhancing penalties for bias crimes won't come until January, when the next Wyoming legislature convenes. But Shepard's death may have an impact in the election, which is less than three weeks away.

For NPR News, I'd Heather Feeney in Laramie, Wyoming.