About 100 people have attended a ceremony at the University of Wyoming dedicating a memorial bench in honor of a gay student who was murdered nearly 10 years ago.

Matthew Shepard was found brutally beaten and tied to a fence outside Laramie, Wyo., on Oct. 12, 1998. The two men who killed him are serving life sentences in prison. The crime triggered nationwide sympathy and revulsion and brought a re-examination of attitudes toward gays.

Shepard's parents established a foundation to fight hate and promote diversity and both spoke at the short ceremony on Saturday. Judy Shepard says the nation has grown a lot in the last 10 years in accepting the gay community.

Source: Washington Blade