Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if the permissibility of the symbol is violated, the discourse surrounding Shepard becomes polemic. Second, I argue that private organizations are not only used to advocate on the behalf of private citizens, but in the case of hate crime prevention organizations, they are dually asked with being the primary center of information for private citizens. Finally, I argue that the legislative discourse surrounding HCPA’s communicate to the public the government’s position on the inclusion of vulnerable communities.
","abstract_html":"<p>Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if the permissibility of the symbol is violated, the discourse surrounding Shepard becomes polemic. Second, I argue that private organizations are not only used to advocate on the behalf of private citizens, but in the case of hate crime prevention organizations, they are dually asked with being the primary center of information for private citizens. Finally, I argue that the legislative discourse surrounding HCPA’s communicate to the public the government’s position on the inclusion of vulnerable communities.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Barnes, Abigail"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Paul Strait","Dr. Laura Alberti","Dr. Laura Stengrim"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:19Z","subjects":["hate crime","Matthew Shepard","LGBTQ+","public sphere","rhetoric","social movements","hate crime legislation","HCPA","Critical and Cultural Studies","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","Speech and Rhetorical Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/788","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Paul Strait","Dr. Laura Alberti","Dr. Laura Stengrim"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Barnes, Abigail"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-10-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["hate crime","Matthew Shepard","LGBTQ+","public sphere","rhetoric","social movements","hate crime legislation","HCPA","Critical and Cultural Studies","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","Speech and Rhetorical Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/788"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if the permissibility of the symbol is violated, the discourse surrounding Shepard becomes polemic. Second, I argue that private organizations are not only used to advocate on the behalf of private citizens, but in the case of hate crime prevention organizations, they are dually asked with being the primary center of information for private citizens. Finally, I argue that the legislative discourse surrounding HCPA’s communicate to the public the government’s position on the inclusion of vulnerable communities.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Navigating Hate: The Public Deliberation of Matthew Shepard and Hate Crime Legislation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Paul Strait","Dr. Laura Alberti","Dr. Laura Stengrim"],"dc:creator":["Barnes, Abigail"],"dc:date.available":["2020-10-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if the permissibility of the symbol is violated, the discourse surrounding Shepard becomes polemic. Second, I argue that private organizations are not only used to advocate on the behalf of private citizens, but in the case of hate crime prevention organizations, they are dually asked with being the primary center of information for private citizens. Finally, I argue that the legislative discourse surrounding HCPA’s communicate to the public the government’s position on the inclusion of vulnerable communities.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/788"],"dc:subject":["hate crime","Matthew Shepard","LGBTQ+","public sphere","rhetoric","social movements","hate crime legislation","HCPA","Critical and Cultural Studies","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","Speech and Rhetorical Studies"],"dc:title":["Navigating Hate: The Public Deliberation of Matthew Shepard and Hate Crime Legislation"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:19Z"}