Judy Shepard

Judy Shepard
Shepard in June 2009
Born	Judy Peck 1952 (age 64–65)
Occupation	Board President – Matthew Shepard Foundation (1999–present) Executive Director – Matthew Shepard Foundation (1999–2009) LGBT-rights activist
Spouse(s)	Dennis Shepard
Children	Matthew Shepard (1976–1998), Logan Shepard (b. 1981)

Board President – Matthew Shepard Foundation (1999–present)

Judy Shepard (née Peck; born 1952) is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998 in what became one of the most high-profiled cases highlighting hate-crimes against LGBT people. She and her husband, Dennis, are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and advocates for LGBT rights.

Judy and her husband, Dennis Shepard, have lived in Casper, Wyoming (though they have also lived in Saudi Arabia) since 1976. Judy is the mother of two sons, Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976–1998) and Logan Shepard (born 1981).

On October 6, 1998, Judy's older son Matthew was beaten and pistol whipped in Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew Shepard died six days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado on October 12, 1998 at age 21. It was widely reported by mass media that it was due to him being gay. The incident became one of the defining cases of hate-crimes and was cited for passing hate-crime legislation. In response, Judy Shepard created the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The foundation's purpose is to advance "social justice, diversity awareness and education, and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people".

She is the founding president of the Foundation's Board of Directors, and served as the first executive director from 1999 to 2009. On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (H.R. 1592), a bill which would expand federal hate-crimes legislation to include sexual orientation, was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors. Judy and her husband Dennis were present at the introduction ceremony. That bill did not pass however, after then-President George W. Bush threatened to veto the bill if it passed.