LIVES OF THE SECULAR SAINTS (via Robert Schwartz):

Gays Angry Over TV Report on a Murder (FELICIA R. LEE, 11/26/04, NY times)

An ABC News report about the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998, which focused national attention on violence against gays, has ignited indignation among gay rights advocates even before its broadcast tonight.

The hourlong report on "20/20" re-examines the murder of Mr. Shepard, a 21-year-old college student who was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die by two men outside Laramie, Wyo.

The program includes prison interviews with the confessed killers, Aaron J. McKinney and Russell A. Henderson, who are serving life sentences. Mr. McKinney tells the ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Vargas that he was high on methamphetamine when he killed Mr. Shepard in a rage, explaining that his intent was to beat up and rob him. [...]

Those leading the charge against the heavily promoted ABC report - including Joan Garry, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - said the program relied on speculation, two convicted killers and other witnesses lacking credibility who are now changing their stories or making accusations that cannot be proved.

The original version didn't rely on speculation?

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 26, 2004 2:22 PM