What seemed to be a simple ride home for Matthew Shepard quickly turned into something more on the night of Oct. 6, 1998. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who met Matthew earlier that night, agreed to give Shepard a ride home, but their intentions were not as they seemed. Once Shepard entered the vehicle, McKinney and Henderson drove to a remote location where they proceed to pistol-whip and torture the victim before tying Shepard to a near-by fence leaving him to die.

A cyclist who happened to be passing by found Shepard. He was then taken to Poudre Valley Hospital located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Just days after being checked in, Shepard died due to severe head injuries that he suffered. Matthew’s attackers, McKinney and Henderson pleaded that sexual advances caused them to do what they did, but later on in the trial the two admitted that they pretended to be homosexual in order to gain Shepard’s trust. On April 5, 1999, Henderson plead guilty and testified against McKinney, Henderson was then sentenced to two consecutive life sentences while McKinney faced the death penalty.

Heartbroken, but wanting to make a difference, Matthew Shepard’s mother, Judy Shepard has taken matters into her own hands. Judy has not only written her own book to educate the public, but she has organized her own tour to speak out and have her voice heard.

Mohawk College Child & Youth professor, Marco Felvus, took it upon himself to reach out to Mrs. Shepard in an effort to bring her message to the college itself. “Mohawk does not yet support students who identify as Queer or questioning whereas many other colleges and universities do with Positive Spaces,” said Felvus. “I feel we can better support students who are queer by providing them with a space like this and ensuring our College community understands and respects people’s differences.”

Shepard does not only bring the story of her son to share with the world, but a message that can be taken to heart. Most individuals don’t know what it’s like to be in the shoes of a homosexual individual, Shepard’s events are one of the few methods to raise awareness about this issue.

“Can you imagine living in a world where you feel different then others?” said Felvus. “I brought Shepard to this College to spread a message. The message is to replace hate with love, to respect everyone regardless of how different they are from you. As an out and proud queer professor at Mohawk College, I run into this all the time. People say to me that they have no problem with queer people, but that it is not for them. By saying “it is not for me” it’s like saying broccoli is not for you, or spinach. People cannot understand that being queer is not a choice.”

With Mohawk College hosting an event such as this, Felvus believes that it will not only affect the students of Mohawk College, but the city of Hamilton as a whole. “It is important for Hamilton, for Mohawk College, because we only have two facilities in our community that support the queer population.” Said Felvus. “It is important because we do not have a positive space at Mohawk College, because Hamilton wants to be the best place to raise a child, because ignorance and hatred can only be replaced by education.”

Mohawk College was last exposed to an event like this two years ago when the Jodee Blanco Anti-Bullying event was organized. This event was a success and Felvus hopes that this year’s event will be just as successful.

“My goal is to educate our community, starting at Mohawk College, so that when my twins grow older and attend school, birthday parties, community sports teams and are invited to their friends homes, they have it a bit of an easier then I did when I was growing up. I hope by then that discrimination towards queers will be as unpopular as hating people because they have a different color of skin.” Said Felvus.

Judy Shepard’s “Erase The Hate” event will take place on November 7^th inside the McIntyre Theatre at Mohawk College; the event is scheduled to begin at 9:30am.