The annual Gay Liberation Network-sponsored Matthew Shepard march, featuring radio host and civil rights activist Cliff Kelley and LGBT rights activist Sam Kosha of the Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization, will be held this year on Oct. 7 at 8pm at Halsted and Roscoe. The GLN march is not connected to Oct. 16 appearance of Judy Shepard, mother of the late Matthew Shepard, sponsored by the Center on Halsted and Roosevelt University. Shepard will discuss ways people can erase hate and accept diversity at a free lecture on Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Auditorium theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress. The Center on Halsted Anti-Violence Project Vigil will also take place Oct. 16, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at Spertus Lounge at Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan, 2nd floor.
In 1998, Matthew Shepard, 21, was tortured and left for dead by two attackers near the University of Wyoming, where he was a student. The convicted murderers are serving life sentences in prison, but were not charged with a hate crime because there were no appropriate statutes at the time. Since Matthew’s death, his parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, have created The Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor their son.
For more information about Judy Shepard’s visit, call 312-341-3510 or see www.roosevelt.edu. For Center on Halsted vigil information, contact (773)472-6469. Additional info on the GLN march is at www.gayliberation.org or (773)209-1187