This past Monday, a few friends and I got to be a part of something very important: a reading of “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” to mark the 11th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard.

Matthew Shepard was a gay University of Wyoming student who was murdered by two men on the night of Oct. 6 and died five days later on the 11th. These men targeted shepherd because he was gay, and his death helped bring attention to hate crime legislation in the House and Senate.

Shepard was killed because these men had a problem with his sexuality, not because of a botched robbery like Rep. Virginia Foxx (R- NC) claims. Mrs. Foxx called his death a “hoax” when it came to using this murder as a reason to pass hate crime bills.

I don’t know what part of the story Republican Virginia Foxx missed; the part where McKinney and Henderson (Shepard’s murderers) pretended to be gay to befriend him because they told their girlfriends they wanted to rob a gay man, or the part where McKinney agreed to the claim that him being gay was one of the main reasons he killed Shepard.

Former President George W. Bush, who’s library will be hosted by SMU if you hadn’t heard, threatened to veto the bill introduced as the “Matthew Shepard Act” because he found it unnecessary. Way to go, George.

The play was moving and inspirational and I wish everyone in the world could have seen it. It is time we did something about hate crimes against members of the LGBT community. They should not be persecuted for their sexual orientation. This is America, and people are allowed to live however they want as long as it violates no laws.

Write your Congressman. Call your Senator. Let them know that you think that everyone is created equal. For what reason?

Because it’s the truth.

John Paul Green is a sophomore theater major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].