by First Things

About the author: First Things is a monthly journal published by Religion and Public Life, an interreligious research and education institute.

It is a sad story, and what they did to him was despicable. These guys were drinking in a Laramie bar and University of Wyoming freshman Matthew Shepard reportedly made a pass at one of them, whereupon two young men took him out, brutally beat him, robbed him, and left him tied to a fence. A few days later, he died in hospital. It immediately became a nationwide cause celebre for gay and lesbian groups agitating for hate-crime laws that include “sexual orientation.” Mr. Shepard’s father expressed the hope that nobody would exploit his son’s death in order to push an agenda, but the agitators knew when they...