In 1998 21-year-old student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tortured and left to die near the small city of Laramie in Wyoming, in the United States. He died six days later from his injuries. During the prosecution of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson for murder, it was demonstrated by the courts that Shepard’s sexual orientation – Shepard was openly gay – played a role in motivating the attack. The pair were given two consecutive life sentences.

The nationwide fall-out from the much-publicized crime resulted in Congress passing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention...