Jason Collins and gay propaganda

I haven't followed Collins story very closely, so I only recently found out that he wears #98 to honor Matthew Shepard, the slain gay man in Wyoming. The story, which I remember well, was that Shepard was murdered by gay-bashing rednecks. A media circus ensued and hate crime legislation was written.

Great, except that it was all a lie. Shepard was murdered by his meth-head associates who wanted to rob him. The three knew each other long before the incident, were on and off sexual partners, and the two murderers were known to frequently become violent while high on meth.

This article is worded harshly, but its facts are not in dispute.

LINK

Still, even with the facts staring them in the face, the left went into its typical unethical, emotional blackmail and cheap tactic mode, as this HuffPo article perfectly demonstrates.

quote:

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As the House of Representatives debates an expansion of hate crimes legislation, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) has taken the rhetoric to a new level, claiming that those who say Matthew Shepard was murdered in Wyoming for being gay are perpetrating a "hoax" on the American people.

"I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills," said Foxx.

A Foxx spokesman didn't immediately return a call. The Matthew Shepard "hoax" notion is a popular meme on right-wing blogs.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation is dedicated to reducing hate crimes.

The New York Times reported in 1998: "According to the local police and prosecutors, the two men lured Mr. Shepard out of a bar by saying they were gay. Then, the Laramie police say, the pair kidnapped Mr. Shepard, pistol-whipped him with a .357 Magnum, and left him tied to a ranch fence for 18 hours until a passing bicyclist spotted Mr. Shepard, who was unconscious."

"She should be ashamed," said Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), himself a victim of a hate crime during the struggle for civil rights. "That is unreal, unbelievable. The law enforcement people and almost every reasonable person I know believes he was murdered because he was gay."

UPDATE: Glenn Thrush has it that his mother may have been in the gallery when Foxx aired her theory.

"Matthew Shepard's mother was in the gallery yesterday and I believe she was back today -- so I'm sorry she had to be around to hear it," Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) told Thrush. "It's an urban myth... And I'd tell her that man did land on the moon and the moon wasn't made out of green cheese."

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See what they did there? They falsely claim that only "right wing blogs" are reporting the "hoax." They then quoted the original, erroneous New York Times article from 1998 as if it was proof. Then they dug up John Lewis to remind you of and guilt trip you with the civil rights movement of the 60's, which of course, is completely irrelevant to this situation. He repeats the lie in such a way that tugs on the liberal desire for/illusion of intellectual superiority, i.e. saying that people who believed the truth were "irrational."

Finally, in an "UPDATE" bonus, they vaguely mention the possibility, based solely on hearsay, that Shepard's mother was in attendance and heard what a talking head lawmaker called "an urban myth."

Here's the original, very long ABC news article revealing the facts of the Shepard murder. Yes, I know this is all old news, but apparently, the left has decided to ignore the truth and continue the victimhood narrative, and Jason Collins is either naive or lying.

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To be fair, I really don't think it was originally intended to be a "hoax" and the brutality and circumstances surrounding the crime certainly did indicate a strong possibility that he'd been murdered for being gay. I think the left jumped to embrace it and have become too invested in it to back out. It's useful for their legislative agenda, and they don't want to admit that they were duped. They've convinced their followers that having a D next to their names makes them intellectual elites, and admitting that they were duped damages that illusion.

I also think it's counterproductive to call it a "hoax" because it's a strong word which opens the door for the typical "right wing conspiracy theorist" rhetoric. It's a "lie" or simply "wrong." File that HuffPo article away for later reference. It's a perfect example of multiple leftist cheap argumentative tricks and tactics.