‘We still teach hate,’ says mother of murdered gay man

GARY — Judy Shepard doesn’t forgive the men who killed her son, but she doesn’t blame them, either.
Shepard, at Indiana University Northwest on Wednesday night to talk about the torture and murder of her son, Matthew Shepard, said she gets “the forgiveness question” a lot when she talks to groups.
Mostly, she’s just confused by the thought, but what she knows for sure is that the two men who brutally murdered Matthew — Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, who are serving life sentences — weren’t taught any better.
Thus, Shepard has made it her mission in the almost 10 years since his death to teach everyone possible that hate is a learned behavior that needs to be stopped.
“We still teach hate; it has to be a conscious decision to not go there,” said Shepard, invited to speak by IUN’s Center for Regional Excellence and Merrillville High School’s Socially Together and Naturally Diverse organization.
At times comical, Shepard described her home state of Wyoming as “not a hateful place at all,” but it is 96 percent white, with the rest of the 500,000-resident population either Native American or Latino. Even after the murder, Wyoming still hasn’t passed hate-crime legislation that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual specifics, though Laramie, where the murder took place, has an ordinance against it.
Indiana also doesn’t have hate-crime legislation specific to the LGBT community, either, and she pointed out it likely won’t happen until something is passed at the federal level. Nevertheless, she remains hopeful. See ‘We still teach hate,’ says mother of murdered gay man
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Amid Sex Scandal, Portland’s Gay Mayor Asked To Resign

Portland’s openly gay mayor, Sam Adams, was asked to resign by a representative from the Portland Police Association over the revelation that he covered up a sexual affair with a teenage boy during his mayoral campaign.

Adams, 45, humbled himself and asked for forgiveness at a Monday press conference, where he admitted that his long-standing denial of having a sexual relationship with 18-year-old Beau Breedlove was not true.

“I want to apologize to the people of Portland for my dishonesty,” Adams said. “I made a mistake. This was clearly an error. I clearly messed this one one up.”

A representative from the Portland Police Association asked for Adams to resign, saying that his actions had left him at risk of “blackmail,” reports The Oregonian.

“Had they attempted to blackmail me, I would have taken the appropriate steps,” Adams responded.

Rumors of the affair surfaced in 2007 during the mayoral campaign. Adams’ long-standing response has been to dismiss those reports as a “nasty smear.”

In a Thursday interview with a reporter from the Willamette Week, the mayor was confronted with evidence the newspaper had gathered over several months concerning the affair, including statements from several of Breedlove’s friends who said the young man had confided in them that the two shared an intimate relationship. Adams remained steadfast in his denial.

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Gay activist inspired forgiveness

The anger seething in the victim impact statements at Kelly Melville’s sentencing was tempered by a reluctant sense of forgiveness.

The anger was there, they said, because her drunken driving took the life of “one of the kindest, gentlest people” one could ever meet, one who endeared himself to others.

The forgiveness was there because the life that was taken belonged to Charles Olszewski.

“If this would have happened to anyone else, I don’t know if I could forgive her,” said Crissy Darrow, one of Charles’ dearest friends. “But because it was Chuck, I know he would want me to forgive her.”

Charles Martin Olszewski was known around the Portage County community of Junction City as a happy aspiring photographer with an infectious laugh and an unconditional love for others. He enjoyed decorating cakes and singing karaoke and, even at age 24, had a childlike affection for his mom, Linda Kawlewski.

” Linda recalled. ”He’d always give me big hugs and say, ‘I love you Mumma,’

Charles was president of Central Wisconsin Pride, a nonprofit lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.

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