Family of Hate Crime Victim Ryan Skipper Speaks Out
Filed by: Waymon Hudson
August 27, 2008 4:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/08/family_of_hate_crime_victim_ryan_skipper.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2008/08/family_of_hate_crime_victim_ryan_skipper.php)
The family of Ryan Skipper, a 25-year-old gay man from Winter Haven, Florida who was killed last year in a brutal hate crime, RyanSkipper.jpgis speaking out and fighting for change. Skipper was found stabbed to death on March 15, 2007. He had been stabbed twenty times and his body was dumped by the side of the road. His killers drove around in his blood-soaked car, bragging how they had killed a gay man. The murders- William David Brown Jr., 20, and Joseph Bearden, 21- were charged with first-degree murder and will be going on trial separately in October 2008 and Feb 2009. You can find out more about the horrific crime in the amazing documentary "ACCESSORY TO MURDER: Our Culture's Complicity in the Death of Ryan Skipper" (trailer after the jump).
The family of Ryan Skipper has become outspoken advocates for stronger federal hate crimes legislation, as well as traveling the country to speak on the need for acceptance of LGBT people. They have been active in lobbying for the Matthew Shepard Act, which seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing federal hate crime laws. The law currently includes only race, religion, ethnicity and nationality.