Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard was a gay man who was killed in 1988, at the age of 21 years old.
During his life, he was openly gay; he would introduce himself to taxi drivers: “I am Matthew Shepard. I’m gay and I want to go to a gay bar in Fort Collins. Is that alright with you?” It was with one such occurrence that he was killed.
He went to a gay bar in Fort Collins, where he was drinking and enjoying himself. While there, he met two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. They pretended to be gay and lured him to the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming, where they killed him. He was tied to a fence and beaten so hard that the cyclist who found him thought he was just a bloody scarecrow. He was pronounced dead a few days after in a hospital, surrounded by loved ones.
Because of this, I created a Vectr image in his honor.
The candle is a three-color candle, with each color having a meaning. The yellow means friendship, which Matthew had a lot of; he was a kind soul who, through said friendships, made it seem like nothing, like no big deal, that he was gay. Because it really isn’t. The green means growth, something that he inspired much of in his friends and family. Something that his community is still going through in remembrance of him. The blue means safety, the one thing in his life he didn’t have, the one thing in his life that he ever wanted.
The match represents his death; his death which sparked a flame in the community and the allies. It is still smoking; as long as hate groups exist, it is still hot and alive and dangerous; but it is black, it is used and useless, but it sparked a flame. A flame in the Pride flag colors, a flame of the community saying “never again.”
I don’t want this design to be used for money. I want you to reblog it; repost it; I don’t care. Print it; paint it; wear it; display it. Let it be seen. I don’t need credit but that would be nice; I just want the story to go along with it. Don’t take it and sell it. Don’t make money off it unless that money is going to LGBT+ charities (such as the Highest Hopes Foundation, Matthew Shepard Foundation, or Trevor Project).
Here’s the image.
