Soulforce rejoices over yesterday's news that President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The law makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. We celebrate the impact this law will have on the safety of our community, and we rejoice with our friend Judy Shepard who has worked tirelessly for over a decade to insure that her son Matthew's brutal murder was not in vain.
In July of 2006, Soulforce
invited Judy Shepard to speak at a rally outside James Dobson's Focus on
the Family in an effort to expose and challenge the misinformation that
flows from that organization, and leads directly and indirectly, to hate.
Judy, and actor Chad Allen, presented a photo album of LGBT families to
Focus on the Family officials in an effort to help Dobson's organization
see those families directly harmed by their campaign of misinformation and
distortions about LGBT people.
Judy was also invited to speak at the Gay Games in Chicago that same night. We were honored when Judy chose Soulforce over the more festive games - her commitment to justice, equality, and confronting the religion-based bias that leads to hate crimes has never wavered.
Thank you Judy. We love you and we rejoice the passage of this law with you!
