Malvern Prep Presents Judy Shepard: The Meaning of Matthew

Malvern Preparatory School

Presents

JUDY SHEPARD
​
Anti-Hate Crimes Activist
Mother of Matthew Shepard

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
7:00 p.m.
Duffy Arts Center
Malvern Preparatory School
Map and Directions

Admission is free, but you must reserve your seats here.

On October 8, 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard were awakened in the middle of the night by a telephone call no parent should ever have to receive. What they heard changed their lives forever. Their eldest son, Matthew, was in a coma after having been brutally attacked—because he was gay. On October 12, Matthew passed away.

Judy Shepard is determined to use her grief over her son’s death to make a difference—to do what she can to ensure that no other parent will have to endure what she has. “I feel Matthew with me every day, or I would not be able to do this,” she says. “We realize that we must use the voice his death has given us. I realize that what I can try and accomplish is to make people aware. We get so complacent in our lives that we forget not everyone is safe, and frequently, it is our children who aren’t safe.”

Judy and Dennis Shepard started the Matthew Shepard Foundation to help carry on Matthew’s legacy by embracing the just causes their son had championed. This includes working for gay and lesbian equality and helping to prevent hate crimes. The critically-acclaimed play, The Laramie Project, which tells the fascinating story of the aftermath of Matthew’s death and the trial of the two men accused of the killing, was performed by the Malvern Theatre Society this November.

Please consider joining us and add your voice to this important conversation about acceptance.