In 1998, a young gay man by the name of Matthew Shepard was robbed, viciously beaten and left tied to a fence to die. Although he was soon found by the police and hospitalized, he soon expired. This film recounts the events after the conviction of the two men responsible for this hate motivated murder.

Matthew's parents, though satisfied by the conviction, are finding the sentencing phase of the trial more difficult. The parents initially want to request the death penalty for their son's murderers, but the mother, Judy Shepard (Stockard Channing, starts to reconsider. As they struggle with their decision, they decide to reexamine the life of their son and rediscover his personality, his struggle to accept his homosexuality as a natural part of his being and above all, his generous humanity to others. All of this leads the parents to appeal to the court the way their son would have wanted, not out of vengeance but to represent best of what their son was and the tragedy of his loss.

The Matthew Shepard Story is a 2002 award-winning television film by director Roger Spottiswoode based on the true story of Matthew Shepard, a 21-years-old gay youth who was murdered in 1998, victim of a gay hate crime. The film scenario written by John Wierick and Jacob Krueger, it starred Shane Meier as Matthew and Stockard Channing as Judy and Sam Waterston as Dennis.

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