Matthew Shepard is one of uncountably many LGBTQ+ individuals murdered each year for having the temerity to be themselves. While the circumstances of Matthew’s last day are complicated, the perpetrators claimed at trial that their actions were in large part motivated by their hatred of Matthew simply because he was gay. On a remote stretch of pasture in Laramie, Wyoming, they stripped, beat, and tortured Matthew, tied him to a fence , and left him there to die, alone, freezing, slowly.

This is a selection from Considering Matthew Shepard by Craig Hella Johnson in which a part of Matthew’s story is told from the perspective of the fence to which he was tied.

Nod to the Resonance Women’s Chorus of Boulder, Colorado, for introducing me to this work through their performance of All of Us.