The Shepard-Byrd Act is the first statute allowing federal criminal prosecution of hate crimes motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The Act makes it a federal crime to willfully cause bodily injury, or attempt to do so using a dangerous weapon, because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin. The Act also covers crimes committed because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability of any person, if the crime affected interstate or foreign commerce or occurred within federal special maritime or territorial jurisdiction.
Who was Matthew Shepard?
On October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was brutally attacked and left to die. The horrific event would become one of the most notorious anti-gay hate crimes in American history. The life and death of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about, and deal with hate in America. Matt’s legacy has challenged and inspired millions of individuals to erase hate in all its forms and spawned an activist movement that, more than a decade later, would result in passage of the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act”, a federal law against bias crimes directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people.
Who is James Byrd, Jr.?
On June 7th, 1998 James Byrd Jr. was walking home in Jasper, Texas from a friend’s anniversary dinner when he was picked up by three white men and driven to an isolated rural road. There he was beaten, spray painted and chained by his ankles to the rear of a pickup truck and dragged for nearly three miles dismembering his body. James Byrd Jr, was a 49-year old black man, father of three children and a beloved member of the Byrd family of Jasper, Texas. This horrible death is not an isolated incident. Racial crimes have had a long history in this country.
The Byrd family is committed to leaving these kinds of mindless killings behind us as we move forward in the future. Therefore, in 1999 we established a non-profit organization to promote racial healing and cultural diversity through education. Our motto is Stop the Hate...Educate.