Matthew Shepard | Be a Seed for Change

I’m an openly gay student at Ole Miss who was threatened with anti-gay slurs. Join me in calling on Ole Miss to update its policies to protect LGBT students, faculty and staff.

Sign Garrison’s Petition

I’m an openly gay student at the University of Mississippi, known as “Ole Miss.” Last week, while I was performing in The Laramie Project — a play about the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, who was killed for being gay — I was booed and heckled by the audience. They laughed at me. They called me f**got.

During the performance, I felt so much judgment. And worse than that, I felt afraid. Not just afraid of what these people might do to me, but afraid that my school wouldn’t back me up — because many of Ole Miss’s policies do not include protections for gay students like me.

The Ole Miss administration has said it will “investigate” what happened during that performance, but I want more than apologies and empty promises. I want real protection.

I worked with GetEQUAL to start a petition calling on Ole Miss to update all its policies for students, faculty and staff to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Will you click here to sign?

What happened during that performance was especially upsetting to me because The Laramie Project is supposed to be a show about learning from what happened to Matthew Shepard. It’s about coming together and treating all people equally.

I hope one day to be able to be my authentic self, open, and without fear of judgment. But the message I got on stage that night was very clear: being gay means being in danger.

This Saturday is the fifteenth anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, and on that day, I am going to present my petition to the Ole Miss administration. I know that if thousands of people sign, they will see how important it is that they take action to protect LGBT people on campus.

Click here to call on Ole Miss’s administration to update all of its policies to extend protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity to all students, faculty and staff.

Thank you,

Garrison Gibbons
Oxford, Mississippi

This is how Congress is spending its time.

Right now, behind closed doors, Republican House leaders are deciding exactly how they’ll use our tax dollars to protect the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

And more than 90 right-wing lawmakers are wasting Congress’s time on a resolution condemning President Obama and declaring that same-sex couples should be denied equal rights. Some are even talking about impeaching the president for his principled stance against DOMA.

Meanwhile, as right-wing groups vilify gay members of Congress, we’re showing every lawmaker that a majority of Americans – both straight and LGBT – want DOMA repealed.

We need 535 more straight allies to join HRC in the next 24 hours so that we have the resources to get our message to all 535 members of Congress. Can you help fund this fight?

www.hrc.org

Join HRC in the next 24 hours with an urgent gift to fight DOMA and stand up for equality.

DOMA’s sole purpose is to deny married, same-sex couples the protections straight married couples enjoy: Social Security survivor benefits, joint tax filing, taking leave to care for a spouse, and more.

In the past few weeks, we’ve sent more than 170,000 letters to Congress calling out this discrimination. We’ve also released a new poll showing that a majority of Americans have no patience for these antics.1 They want Congress to focus on creating jobs – not defending DOMA.

Straight allies’ voices are critical in our fight to show Republican House leaders that they’re out of step with the American majority.

We refuse to be quiet. We’re standing up to right-wing ideologues, rallying support and fighting for DOMA repeal bills in the House and Senate. We’re continuously highlighting the scary truth about DOMA in the press. And we’re making sure your voice is heard in Congress on this issue.

This is not a test – equality for loving couples and families is on the line.

Declare your support as a straight ally. Stand up to hate – chip in now. www.hrc.org

I know you’re disgusted by our opponents’ hypocrisy and that you’re eager for progress. From the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. hate crimes law to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, we’ve shown we can get things done together. I’m hoping you’ll stand with us today.

Keep up the fight,

Joe Solmonese

President

1 A new poll from HRC and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research shows 51 percent of Americans oppose DOMA while 34 percent favor it. 54 percent of Americans want Congress to focus on jobs and only 32 percent would prefer Congress spend time defending DOMA.