2010 Charity Partners

This year's Royalty Team chose two very important organizations that benefit the GLBT community: The Matthew Shepard Foundation and Mr. Friendly.

The GMIR 2010 will donate their proceeds to these charities. Please read about them. If you, too, believe they are worthy causes, give generously at this year's rodeo so we can "pay it forward."

The Matthew Shepard Foundation

MATTHEW'S STORY

The story of Matthew Shepard began on December 1, 1976 when he was born to Judy and Dennis Shepard in Casper, Wyoming. He went to public school in Casper until his junior year of high school when he moved with his family to Saudi Arabia. Matt had to finish his high school education at The American School in Switzerland because there were no American high schools in Saudi Arabia at the time. In both high schools, he was elected by his peers to be a peer counselor. He was easy to talk to, made friends easily and actively fought for the acceptance of all people. Matt had a great passion for equality. His experiences abroad fueled his love for travel and gave him the chance to make many new friends from around the world. Matt’s college career eventually took him back to Wyoming where he studied political science, foreign relations and languages at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

The horrific events that took place shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998 went against everything that Matt embodied. Two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, lead him to a remote area east of Laramie, Wyoming. He was tied to a split-rail fence where the two men severely assaulted him. He was beaten and left to die in the cold of the night. Almost 18 hours later, he was found by a bicyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. Matt died on October 12 at 12:53 a.m. at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado with his family by his side. His memorial service was attended by friends and family from around the world and garnered immense media attention that brought Matt’s story to the forefront of the fight against bigotry and hate. The life and death of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about, and deal with, hate in America. Since his death, Matt’s legacy has challenged and inspired millions of individuals to erase hate in all its forms. Although Matt’s life was short, his story continues to have a great impact on young and old alike. His legacy lives on in thousands of people like you who actively fight to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance.

FOUNDATION'S STORY

The Matthew Shepard Foundation was founded by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year old son, Matthew, who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming in October 1998.

Created to honor Matthew in a manner that was appropriate to his dreams, beliefs and aspirations, the Foundation seeks to "Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance" through its varied educational, outreach and advocacy programs and by continuing to tell Matthew's story.

Mr. Friendly

Have you met Mr Friendly?

The idea for a symbol to encourage discussion of HIV status is long overdue. For years, HIV+ men chatting on gay websites have been treated rudely. "Poz" men have been too scared to approach someone in a bar because they were too afraid to eventually have to disclose their status. Pozphobia, the fear of HIV, is running rampant in our community and leading to unsafe behaviors. Honest communication is key to the successful squelching of this pozphobic epidemic.

The symbol “Mr. Friendly” has a black positive sign for a nose and a black negative sign for a left winking eye. His right eye is blue and has a big red smile with a plain white background. The color scheme comes from the colors of the leather pride flag – red, blue, white and black. While it may not be an important distinction for outside the leather community, the colors make sense for a basic smile face.

The symbol is intended for use in person and on-line. A person can wear a button on his jacket, shirt or vest letting others in the community know that he is status-friendly. People in the leather community often wear pins on a leather vest. A jpeg file can be downloaded onto a profile (or a picture of the person wearing a Mr. Friendly button if the website doesn’t allow symbols to be on a profile) to show that he/she is status-friendly. The term “status friendly” is worded in such a way because it doesn’t imply someone’s HIV status either way. The more common term “poz-friendly” implies that the person is HIV negative. Some negative men have experienced discrimination for not being poz. The goal for Mr. Friendly is that both poz or neg people can wear the pin to encourage a safe disclosure of HIV status without disclosing their own status publicly.

By wearing a Mr Friendly pin, you are letting others know that they can disclose their status safely without fear of social rejection. The pin also reminds the wearer to bring up the topic of HIV status in negotiation for a sexual encounter or simply helping other HIV+ people feel more accepted. Consider the statistic that most poz men have not disclosed their HIV status prior to a sexual encounter. One might think that this is largely due to the fact that poz men are continually turned down for sex or treated rudely once they disclose their status. Likewise, a jpeg of Mr. Friendly on a profile would encourage discussion of HIV status on-line. Poz men are often ignored or dismissed as soon as their status is disclosed. This treatment can lead to unsafe behaviors and a fear of disclosing in the future. Many men choose not to get an HIV test simply because they don’t want to find out that they might be HIV+.

The main goal for Mr. Friendly is to help ease the topic of HIV status into conversation in both the on-line and face-to-face world. The knowledge of how to prevent the spread of HIV is out there. We all need to now empower ourselves to bring up the topic of HIV status and to make our anti-pozphobia attitudes be known.

'til there’s a cure…