‘Absolutely outrageous’

Campaign to honor Matthew Shepard hits a wall with USPS

By Morgan M. Hurley

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On Dec. 1, 2023, the International Imperial Court Council (IICC), directed by Queen Mother Nicole Murray Ramirez, began a grassroots effort to convince the US Postal Service (USPS) to establish a US Postal Stamp to honor Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was brutally murdered in 1998 by two men who knew that he was gay. Matthew was born Dec. 1, 1976, which is why they chose that date.  Ramirez is the national chair of the campaign, with honorary chair members that include Sen. Toni Atkins, Mayor Todd Gloria, and Matthew’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard.

San Diego native Clarione Gutierrez-Owens (Clarione) was chosen as the artist for the stamp, and painted the stamp’s proposed image in November of 2023 in advance of the effort, using a well-known portrait of Matthew as his guide.

“With the recent historic rise in hate crimes in our country, especially against the LGBTQ community, I felt a Matthew Shepard stamp would remind Americans about the legacy of Matthew’s life, which has become a symbol against hate and of bringing communities together,” Ramirez said, explaining why he chose to undertake the effort.

The decision to name a postage stamp is first reviewed by the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee, which is where all letters go. The committee is defined as follows on the Postal Service website: “Established in 1957, the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) serves the Postmaster General of the United States (PMG). Using their collective expertise in history, science, technology, art, education, sports, and other areas of public interest, CSAC members consider and then recommend stamp subjects to the PMG for final approval.”

That committee currently consists of 10 members, two women and eight men, all of whom are appointed by the Post Master General.

The Matthew Shepard letter-writing campaign has followed the same suit as two previous – and ultimately successful – campaigns, also initiated and organized by the IICC; one that succeeded in getting a stamp to honor Harvey Milk, which was dedicated in 2014, and one to get a US Navy ship named after Harvey Milk. The USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206), an oil replenishment ship, was christened in 2021.

This campaign, however, has already hit a snag.

Last month, on March 2, local LGBTQ activist and US Marine Corps veteran Bob Lehman, helped gather together a batch of letters written by supporters from across the country – 1,693 – to be exact, including his own, and sent them to the CSAC. 

“My letter asked for a commemorative stamp in Matthew’s honor as ‘a symbol of hope, resilience, and the ongoing fight against discrimination in America …’,” Lehman told LGBTQ San Diego County News. Two weeks later, he received a response letter from the USPS, dated March 15. In the letter, which coincidently was not from the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee, but Shawn P. Quinn, identified as the manager of stamp development. It did not offer good news.

Dear Mr. Lehman,

Thank you for your letter to the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee regarding the issuance of a commemorative stamp honoring Matthew Shepard.

Each year, the Postal Service receives thousands of letters and even more petitions suggesting hundreds of different topics for new stamps. The Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee was established in 1957 to review all suggestions and make recommendations to the Postmaster General. We rely on the Committee to produce a balanced stamp program that touches on all aspects of our heritage. Committee recommendations are based on national interest, historical perspective, and other criteria that can be viewed at aboutusps.com/who/csac/#criteria. 

Unfortunately the subject does not meet current criteria for commemoration on a postage stamp. The stamp program commemorates positive contributions to American life, history, culture, and environment, therefore negative occurrences and disasters will not be commemorated on postage stamps or stationery.

We thank you for your patronage and taking the time to write.

Sincerely,

Shawn P. Quinn (Manager, Stamp Development)

Lehman said he recently became aware of one other person who received such a letter, and that was in December, soon after the campaign started. The assumption is that there are many others. 

“I was really shocked when I first read the letter,” Lehman said. “I had to read, and re-read, the part where the US Postal Service equates Matthew Shepard with something ‘negative’ or a ‘disaster.’ Talk about tone deaf. The letter shows that the US Postal Service completely failed to understand the powerful and lasting positive impact of Matthew Shepard’s life on the LGBTQ community and our world.”

National Chair Ramirez was stunned when he read the response letter.

“It’s absolutely outrageous and disrespectful,” Ramirez told LGBTQ San Diego County News. “This is the first time in all our ongoing stamp campaigns that we have received such a negative response and I believe it is absolutely unwarranted and should be reconsidered.

“My phone is ringing off the hook from national leaders,” Ramirez continued. “Organizations are shocked and angry. We are going to continue our letter campaign. This is far from over. Everyone is really upset, including members of the house and senate.” Clarione was also disappointed by the news.

“I’d like to believe that the committee’s rejection of the stamp is rooted in misunderstanding of Matthew’s legacy,” he said. “Yes, his death was extremely tragic, but it sparked a revolution in combating hate crimes across the country. It birthed the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which seeks to amplify his story and promotes the importance of acceptance, diversity, and equality.

“The most notable effect of Matthew’s death was the enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act – a law that criminalizes hate crimes,” Clarione continued. “That means it is now a federal crime to cause harm to someone due to their perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Because of that, our community is now federally protected by the law. I don’t know how you can’t consider that a major contribution to society.”

After reading the Postal Service’s response, we did a bit of research on our own and were not surprised at what we found.

In 2019, the “Purple Heart” forever stamp was created. A story about the stamp said the following, “The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to members of the U.S. military who have been wounded or killed in action.”

Also in 2019, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stamp was dedicated. Then-vice chairman of the USPS board of governors, who was at the ceremony, said this:

“The Postal Service is honored to issue this semipostal stamp as a powerful symbol of the healing process, growth and hope for tens of millions of Americans who experience PTSD.”

In 2003, a stamp was established to commemorate 9/11. Granted, it focused on the first responders and it was titled “Heroes of 2001,” but the stamp itself is the widely distributed image of the firemen raising an American flag on top of the World Trade Center rubble, specifically referencing perhaps our greatest American tragedy to date. 

And here’s the kicker. In 1994, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII, the USPS had approved and announced the future release of a stamp with a full-color image of the mushroom cloud seen in the wake of the atom bomb dropping on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. After much transpacific controversy and months of the State Department tap-dancing with their counterparts in Japan, President Clinton put the kabosh on the stamp.

But this fact remains, the USPS had approved a bomb that leveled dozens of cities, and murdered millions of innocent Japanese civilians, but Matthew Shepard doesn’t meet the criteria.

It is important to note that maybe the biggest difference between the timing of the Harvey Milk stamp’s approval (2014) and this effort to honor Matthew Shepard is the Postmaster General. Louis DeJoy was appointed to PMG in June of 2020 by former president Donald Trump. DeJoy was considered a “megadonor” to the GOP and Trump’s previous campaigns at the time. In the years since his appointment, DeJoy has become an unexpected household name simply because of his horrible policies while governing the USPS, with calls for his resignation or firing by its board of governors. He, or his staff, may have indeed been the ones to shut this effort down.

So, how can the community get involved? Those associated with the campaign say everyone should jump on board.

“I encourage everybody to send in their own personal letter to the US Postal Service and share how Matthew Shepard has touched your life,” Lehman said.

“I believe an outpouring of letters from people, organizations, elected officials, religious leaders, and youth to the stamp committee in Washington D.C. asking them to reconsider their stand will change their minds,” Ramirez said. “I pray so.”

“I think in this instance, the committee may just be unaware of the social and cultural impact that followed Matthew’s death,” Clarione offered. “Maybe we just need to let them know. Maybe a social media campaign needs to be created that promotes the positive changes that resulted from Matthew’s murder. The committee needs to focus on the positive resonance rather than the negative connotation.” 

“As we’ve overcome all the setbacks we’ve encountered in our history, I’m confident our community won’t back down from this,” he continued. “Matthew has made too much of an impact in our history for this to be ignored. It’s important to never forget Matthew and to honor the legacy he left behind.”

The IICC has other campaigns in the works, including a stamp effort for Bayard Rustin.

To learn more about the Matthew Shepard campaign, visit msstampcampaign.org. 

To get involved and learn how to send your own letter to the USPS, visit bit.ly/4aKQyIz.

—Morgan M. Hurley is the editor-in-chief of this newspaper. You can reach her at editor@lgbtqsd.news.  

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