Editorial

Many have questioned the motive behind ABC-TV's decision to devote its 20/20 program last week to repudiating the characterization of the brutal October 2000 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming as a "hate crime." The program's content suggests it was a signal to the world that ABC no longer intends to be influenced by the so-called "gay lobby." If true, coming so soon after a presidential election in which the gay marriage issue was considered to play a major role, it is a particularly shameful, disingenuous and cowardly action, as well as a huge disservice to the fight against hate crimes of all types.

But not to be outdone, NBC and CBS matched ABC's craven behavior this week by refusing to air as "too controversial" a United Church of Christ ad that emphasizes the Protestant denomination's welcoming of a diverse membership, including same-sex couples.

In the infamous Matthew Shepard case revised so dramatically by ABC on 20/20 last Friday, the openly-gay Shepard, a diminutive 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, was savagely pistol-whipped by two men and tied to a fence in a remote area outside Laramie where he was left to bleed to death. The perpetrators were apprehended swiftly and with overwhelming evidence against them, both were sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

While the world was stunned and outraged, Shepard's mother has worked courageously and tirelessly ever since, establishing the Matthew Shepard Foundation and speaking, teaching and advocating nationwide on behalf of tolerance and anti-hate crime legislation.

Now, ABC comes along after four years to redefine what happened, based on interviews with the convicted murderers, one pursuing a federal appeal. According to the perpetrators, they chose a "gay panic" defense in court because they thought, incorrectly as it turned out, it would bring them some sympathy. Now, they contend, the sexual orientation of Shepard had nothing to do with their crime. It was simply a drug-crazed robbery attempt. We have to assume they've come to believe denying a "hate crime" motive may help them now, and ABC was more than willing to assist.

But these murderers are hardly qualified to judge what is a "hate crime" and what is not. Just because robbery may have been a motive, it does not diminish the role that bigotry and hate played in the choice of a victim. If Shepard had been black, this would have been obvious.

In all kinds of "hate crime" cases, even when robbery is a motive, perpetrators select victims on the conscious or unconscious notion that they're inferior and somehow deserve whatever might happen to them. The fact that Shepard was so violently murdered belies the explanation that a drug-influenced robbery, alone, was involved.

But thanks to ABC dubious motives, the public's understanding of the role of hate in criminal behavior has been diminished.