Matthew Shepard wasn't a victim of gay-bashing. He knew his murderer and no one in Laramie believes the guy was homophobic because he was a well-known bisexual in the area. Furthermore, he and Matthew had had sex together already (sometimes under sort of weird circumstances). Shepard's death was a drug-related murder. Lots of crazy shit going down in Laramie. Read The Book of Matt, by Stephen Jiminez, a gay journalist, if you haven't already.