Aaron McKinney Now Says Matthew Shepard "Needed Killing"

On October 6, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was tied to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming.  He was pistol-whipped, tortured, robbed, and left to die.  He did die, six days later.   From WMU News:  His murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted the violence and prejudice lesbian, gay, and transgender people face.  A month after the murder, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town.  From these interviews they wrote the play "The Laramie Project," which they later made into a film for HBO.  More than 50 million people around the country have seen the piece.

Eleven years after Matthew's death, more than 150 theaters around the globe will perform staged readings of a new epilogue recently added to "The Laramie Project."  The epilogue was written after playwright Moises Kaufman and his team returned to Laramie to explore what - if anything - had changed in this small college town forever defined by a hate crime.  They discovered that a lot of Laramie residents are still locked in denial.  ("What?  No hate crimes here."  One resident huffily declared:  "Laramie is not a project!  It is a community!")  From the Denver Post:  What Tectonic found, and found most troubling, "is that so much of the town is rewriting the crime as not a hate crime," said Stephen Belber, a writer on both "Laramie Project" incarnations.  The irony: The primary killer now admits that it was.  "Matt Shepard needed killing," Aaron McKinney bluntly told Tectonic company member Greg Pierotti for the epilogue, which includes the first interviews with McKinney and Russell Henderson since 2004.  "As far as Matthew is concerned, I don't have any remorse," McKinney said during nine hours of talks with Pierotti. "The night I did it, I did have hatred for homosexuals."  ... Shepard's death has mobilized both sides of hot-button issues like hate-crime legislation, gay marriage and domestic partnerships.  Much of the debate over the past decade has been whether a hate crime is worse than any other crime.  Ironically, McKinney's own words might now help settle that argument. 

Despite polls showing that a large majority of registered voters want "sexual orientation" added to the current federal hate crimes statute, The Matthew Shepard Act continues to languish in Congress, where differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill are being "reconciled."  Religious conservatives have done everything in their power to portray H.R. 1913 as affording "special protections" to LGBT Americans.  They worry that the bill's passage will somehow hinder their attempts to demonize gays from the pulpit. 

It won't do that.  Fundie preachers will still be able to spread their message of hate and intolerance, and LGBT people will still be murdered by people who hear that message and conclude that our lives are worthless.  The legislation will, however, allow the Department of Justice to prosecute bias-motivated crimes that are often marginalized (or ignored) by local authorities.

Aaron McKinney says that Matthew Shepard "needed killing."  He needed killing.  There are preachers in this country who advocate that same thing.  There are elected representatives who compare gays to pedophiles and terrorists.  A gay-inclusive hate crimes law won't shut them up.  But it will demonstrate that America is taking a stand against this kind of bigotry and violence.  (Pictured Top:  Matthew Shepard's murderer, Aarom McKinney)

Comments

[Bee Girl]

It amazes me that after all this time Mckinny has no regret over taking a human life. Bigotry... the gift that keeps on giving.

[Philip]

What a wasted life. I can understand why people in Laramie still don't want to acknowledge this as a hate crime. Denial, River in Egypt, etc. But they're not doing themselves any favors by refusing to face facts.

[madfloridian]

Such a tragic event. From what I see where I live in FL...we are raising a generation of hate-filled young people. Sadly, they are from religious families. Our Democrats need to start taking a firm, solid stance about this hate. They could make a difference if they did so.

[Aggie, Fair Haven, Vt.]

That must be on the list of talking points... "Not a hate crime".

[ROY KIRKLAND]

This is the type of bigotry and hatred that is fueling the ignorance of this country. I was a victim of bigotry and hate crimes in 1993. A cross was burned in front of my home. Death threats left on my answering machine. Mailboxes destroyed. Then my home burned.

I put away the memories for sixteen years until I recently discovered this box full of hateful past. Reading through the newspapers, I became so infuriated that no one was ever charged that I and my former partner decided to team up and film a documentary. A CROSS BURNING IN WILLACOOCHEE had its world premiere Sunday night in Atlanta. I am so proud to be speaking out now and no longer hiding from that sickening hate that made our lives a living hell.

Please see more at www.acrossburning.com and please, EVERYONE, please continue to speak out against hate and bigotry. Thank you. ROY KIRKLAND / DOUG SEBASTIAN

[Harmonika Savingsbonds]

I hope he's been ra ped, repeatedly.

[BuelahMan]

Such a tragic event. From what I see where I live in FL...we are raising a generation of hate-filled young people. Sadly, they are from religious families. Our Democrats need to start taking a firm, solid stance about this hate. They could make a difference if they did so.

And sadly, another Sheople thinks that the current faux two party system will actually hold each "side" accountable.

Wake up to this insane madness and cull both "parties" that seem to be almost exactly the same, except in the mind of a sycophant.

[Ronbo]

I'm not sure what we're supposed to get out of the fact that Aaron McKinney has no remorse. The guy was obviously a dirtbag all those years ago. Did you think many years of incarceration with the dregs of society would improve his character?
More importantly, publishing McKinney's current "thoughts" (I use the term loosely) gives the man a soapbox. The whole point of prison is to take him out of society, and by giving us an update on him he's, in essence, participating in society. I don't like that. For Mr. McKinney it is game over - apart from letters and visits with immediate family members, he should be excluded from society.
Especially since McKinney's intransigence is not in any way informative on the larger issue.
Anti-gay prejudice is much like racial prejudice - if we do nothing about it, then it will continue to fester. That's what happened with race after the not-so-Civil War. It took the passage of laws as well as forced school integration, and then another generation or so, before we saw real changes in that situation. Even then, we're still working out race issues.

[Dawn]

I disagree with the last commenter. I don't think the guy who interviewed McKinney for the play's epilogue - or writing about that interview on a blog - is giving McKinney a soapbox. Haters are given soapboxes all over the Internet. This just proves that some people can't be rehabilitated out of their homophobia.

[gary]

Ronbo, taking people "out of society" does nothing for the problems we face in society. Prisons do exist for a reason, but they do not remove people from society. Prisons, unfortunately, are a significant part of our society. And using their existence as a threat to those who don't follow rules apparently is not working to keep people from breaking the rules. I think you'd agree: harsh prison sentences, mandatory minimum sentence laws, the death penalty, et al, really do nothing to prevent crime.

McKinney's transgressions are more significantly a result of how we talk to each other about each other. He feels justified and his harsh prison treatment only serves to more adequately support his grotesque beliefs.

We live with racists, homophobics, misogynists. They are not excluded and cannot be excluded. We must do everything we can to actively transform society. Passing legislation is only one key to solving the problem. We have to not ignore the presence of grotesque ideological and religious hysteria. We have to confront it.

Ultimately, McKinney's punishment--wallowing in prison--does nothing for anyone.

[onesmartgal]

i guess u never learn so what if someone is differant.go the other way you dodnt kill a person beascouse how they are

[Aware]

I guess I'm really confused by your comments Aaron. Anyone that was close to this situation knows the truth. Maybe you took out your anger on him that night, because of your frustration. But all who know the truth, know...that this was a robbery gone bad!!! You know it, we know it. You needed money for rent, and other things. You took that pistol out to sell it for rent money. Whatever happened, that you chose to act out your frustration over him, no one will ever know. But you never set out to kill him because he was gay. America will never know. But we know. And what about the rest of the story? This affected others. In big ways! But no one wants to talk about that. Everyone wants to just settle on the "gay" issue. Why are you settling now? And no, you were not always a slumbag, as one proposed. Far from it! You made mistakes, but we all have. Oh the book I could write on this subject. Just wish others knew just a glimpse of the truth. Would change the end of the story. But then, there is no end for us.

[misty]

Aaron McKinney is not at Rawlins anymore,he is in Torrington Med prison!!!!!! He should stay at the Max prison!!!!!!!!!!

[Jay Grogan]

The true "irony" here is: For a man who claims to hate gay men, Aaron McKinney certainly managed to squeeze himself into the perfect position to have his back end used as target practice for the remainder of his tragically pathetic life.

[barry]

mckinney is a scumbag piece of shit puke who should get the same treatment he gave to matthew shepard no mercy for this bastard rot in hell mckinney and when you do go to hell say hi to the westboro baptist church and your ugly mom

[Teresa]

"Aware" needs to change his/her tag. That person is aware of nothing. "Robbery gone bad"! Bull. One other piece I had read claimed that it had been reported by all the media that it was a drug deal gone bad and the gays were just misleading everyone. Can these people just not HEAR??? McKinney ADMITTED in his confession to the police he had killed Matthew because he was gay. He had even plotted to get him in his truck for that simple reason. But the real irony is that McKinney, when he realized he was going to get the death sentence, which he should have, had his attorneys approach Matthew's parents to beg for leniency. Regrettably, they granted that request. They obviously hoped that this young man would have regretted what he had done and would live with that regret for the rest of his life. Well, that was an obvious mistake. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to outlaw bigotry, prejudice and stupidity. Hopefully, McKinney and those who are supportive of what he did will all suffer horrible lives and die young so we are rid of them. This goes not just for homophobes but racists, sexists, bigots and all like them.

[victoria]

I can’t believe how someone can say someone needs killing. No one deserves to be killed especially because of his or her sexual orientation. This is disgusting and unjust. This is not something anyone should EVER say no matter what the circumstances are. This really made me angry knowing that someone can say such a thing about someone. Does he not see he took an innocent life and he has the nerve to say that after what he did? He deserves the punishment that he was give.

[al12]

This is really disgusting. I hope they are both locked in prison for good. Matthew certainly did not need killing!! Aaron's just a jack*** for killing him and then for saying he has no remorse all these years later! Homophobia is disgusting and those who are by "nature" homophobic should simply cover it up and learn to live with it. There is no reason to be homophobic or prejudiced in the first place, but there are lots of homophobic people out there who do not go killing homosexuals.

[Get Real]

Wow, somebody is gay, somebody murders him who believes he is doing what God wanted....years later says, he needed to be killed. Why are people so messed up in the head. Is this a learned behavior. Being gay is not a learned behavior. This guy is so far from God. I think people in jail are the biggest cowards that ever existed. They majority commit crimes, get caught and are really hidden from the people that really want to retaliate. I think gays and lesbians, etc. are the some of the strongest of all. They face ridicule and hatred and bigotry(a lot do). Yet, they are themselves walking on this earth facing uneducated trash and not think twice. I think this Aaron is probably really hurting, and can only think to say ignorant things to justify what he did and get some attention. God Bless Matthew Shepard. Thank you Lord for putting him on the right side.....