Matthew Shepard's Remains To Be Interred At National Cathedral

WASHINGTON, DC -- Twenty years ago on Friday, gay college student Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in a hate crime, touching off a nationwide debate about the treatment of homosexuality in America. Later this month, Shepard's remains will be laid to rest at the Washington National Cathedral in D.C., according to a report.

WTOP reports that the ashes of Shepard, 21 at the time of his killing, will be interred after a public service of "thanksgiving and remembrance" at 10 a.m. on Oct. 26.

The Washington National Cathedral was chosen as Shepard's final resting place because he loved the Episcopal church and felt welcomed by the church in his home state of Wyoming, his mother said in a statement as reported by WTOP.

Shepard will join famous figures such as Helen Keller and President Woodrow Wilson as part of an exclusive group who have been interred at the cathedral.

Shepard was beaten and tortured in a rural area by two men he had met in a bar in Laramie, Wyoming, on Oct. 7, 1998. He was left tied to a fence, and died five days later at the hospital.

The violent incident called to attention the effects of bigotry on gay people in the United States. His death led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed in 2009, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded the 1969 United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 28: Author Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, promotes her new book, ' A Face in the Crowd: Expressions of Gay Life in America' at The Virgin Megastore on January 28, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michel Boutefeu/Getty Images)