J.R. Warren, Matthew Shepard and a link of hope
Filed by: Cathy Renna
October 9, 2008 3:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/10/jr_warren_matthew_shepard_and_a_link_of.phpOn July 3, 2000, Arthur "JR" Warren, a 26-year-old African American gay man, was murdered in a hate crime by two young white men. The ran over him - repeatedly - with their pick-up truck after luring him into the woods.
J.R. Warren was a gay man who lived with learning disabilities and a birth defect that caused him to be born with several fingers missing on one hand. His family and friends described him as gentle and soft-spoken. He was so vulnerable.
It may seem that JR and Matt Shepard have little in common. But in death, it was one of Matt's friends who went to West Virginia to advocate for more and better media coverage of his death and help the local community and students at Fairmont College deal with this horrific incident. I know, I brought Matt's friend Romaine Patterson to work with me at GLAAD, and it was she who was dispatched to help in W. VA.
