Shepard’s parents join discussion with locals on stopping hate crimes
Embracing people’s differences could help cut down on the number of hate crimes, according to advocates and law-enforcement officers gathered for a round-table discussion Tuesday in Orlando.
Judy and Dennis Shepard, the parents of Matthew Shepard — a Wyoming man who was killed nearly 20 years ago because he was gay — joined the panel as part of their foundation’s effort to raise awareness of hate crimes in cities around the country.
“We should be celebrating the fact that we’re all different, instead of putting our children down and not giving them a proper chance to succeed and encouraging them to work hard,” Dennis Shepard said.
Tuesday’s discussion was held at Parliament House, a gay club and resort near downtown Orlando. Those gathered talked about resources available to the community and current discrimination laws in Florida. Panelists also shared stories about the Pulse nightclub massacre, which left 49 people dead and dozens more injured on June 12, 2016.
At the federal level, a hate crime involves a victim who was selected based on personal characteristics such as race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.
Florida law doesn’t include gender or gender identity on the list. But even so, the number of hate crimes in the state increased nearly 22 percent from
2015 to 2016, and sexual orientation accounted for more than a third of the total, according to the annual report released by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
“As we take off pride month, we have to recognize hate crimes affect us — specifically, the LGBTQ community,” said Michael Farmer, a panelist representing Equality Florida, a nonprofit LGBT advocacy group.
Master Sgt. Grace Peek, the LGBT liaison officer for the Orlando Police Department, talked about her role — as did her predecessor, Lt. Jim Young. The pair explained the Safe Place program launched in late 2016, through which victims of hate crimes can find help at businesses identified with a rainbow decal in the shape of a badge.
Peek also spoke about her outreach efforts to local schools.
“I believe that [kids] are our future, and I want to take care of it,” she said.
Law enforcement agents — including representatives from the FBI and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office — discussed what an undocumented immigrant should do if they are the victim of a hate crime. Officers said immigration is a federal matter and it’s not the job of local agencies to enforce.
“I don’t look at someone’s citizenship status, and I’m the one who chooses whether a case is open or not,” said Keith Givens, the supervisory special agent for the FBI in Orlando.
Barbara Poma, CEO and executive director of the OnePulse Foundation, remembered the reaction of first responders during the Pulse massacre.
“There wasn’t anybody who responded who cared about the sexual orientation, gender or creed of the people they were helping,” she said.