On Oct. 7, 1998, a biker discovered an unconscious, brutally beaten Matthew Shepard bound to a fence in Laramie, Wyo. The 21-year-old college student would never awaken, galvanizing the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Since his death, federal hate crime law expanded to include those motivated by a victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. The United States Armed Forces ditched its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 2011, and the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal nationwide in 2015.
