Croton & Ossining's WDFH: Marking A Somber Anniversary

Today marks the 13th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard.  21-year old Matthew was murdered in Wyoming in 1998 in an anti-gay hate crime that captured the nation's attention.  It was this heinous crime that launched anti-bullying movements all over the United States and the World.

Since then great strides have been taken in making the public aware of these types of events and many schools have implemented anti-bullying policies that aim to eradicate bullying for ANY reason.  Bullying starts at an early age and if we can stop it in schools, we may be able to stop it completely.Sometimes it takes a local story to make the community take notice. 

Once such event spurred WDFH to create their recently debuted LGBTQ Youth program: OutCasting.Marc Sophos, WDFH's founder and executive director, was shaken by the recent news of the apparent suicide of a bullied 14-year-old, Jamey Rodemeyer, in upstate New York.  He noted that a television news program opened with the anchorman saying, "We begin tonight with a story about something we don't normally cover here.  But an awful lot of people in Williamsville are hurting tonight because of a suicide there."  Mr. Sophos countered, "Why don't they normally cover stories like this until they erupt into violence and suicide?  There is far too much focus in the media on events and too little on issues, and it's damaging our country.  It's like shining a spotlight at the outward symptoms of a disease without trying to understand and eliminate the underlying causes."

OutCasting will be an on-air and online resource for young LGBTQ listeners but that the program is also aimed at a general audience that wants to better understand the complexities of LGBTQ identities.  "Our country can't seem to stop tying itself up into knots over LGBTQ issues," he continued.  "There is so much deliberate misinformation out there and it's hurting and killing kids.  We hope that OutCasting will be able to inject some humanism, and specifically an LGBTQ youth perspective, into the media conversation."

OutCasting airs on WDFH FM 90.3 on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.  You can also stream it from the WDFH site or download it as a podcast at the link below.OutCasting Podcast

THE NEED FOR FUNDING

WDFH must raise funding in order for OutCasting and other programming to continue.  In particular, we are trying to reach foundations, businesses, and individuals who support LGBT issues and the empowerment of youth.  All contributions are fully tax-deductible.  We need your help, so please step up to the plate.