Matthew Shepard Foundation Doesn't Take Hate Money

Let's recap.

Perez Hilton has a blog.
Perez Hilton uses said blog to personally attack celebrities by drawing penises on their pictures, implying or even declaring the celebrity to be gay, and just being a Mean Girl.
Perez Hilton attacks Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas on his "blog."
Perez Hilton goes to a Black Eyed Peas concert.
Perez Hilton gets into a verbal sparring match with will.i.am.
Perez Hilton calls will.i.am a faggot--the most hateful thing, according to Perez, that you can call someone.
Perez Hilton gets punched.
Perez Hilton blog cries.
Perez Hilton won't apologize for his use of the word faggot.
Perez Hilton finally succumbs to good sense--something for which his is not known--and apologizes for saying faggot.
Perez Hilton proclaims he is going to sue the alleged puncher and donate all his winnings in court to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation says No, thank you.
Snap!

from the Matthew Shepard Foundation:

The Matthew Shepard Foundation was surprised to learn this morning via media reports that blogger Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira) has announced he plans to donate, to our organization, the proceeds of a lawsuit he is contesting over an altercation which has been widely reported in recent days.

We had no advance notice or contact from Mr. Hilton or his representatives regarding this proposal, nor any communication since he posted this plan to his website. We do not know the details of the lawsuit, whether it has been filed, the nature of his claims or the likely outcome.

But because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton's admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner.

We very much appreciate the generosity of the offer to support our continuing work to memorialize Matthew through activism in defense of sexual minorities and in favor of understanding, compassion, and acceptance.

But because so much of our work involves education to reduce the use of hateful language against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, or those so perceived, it would be inappropriate for us to benefit financially from circumstances in which such a verbal attack was involved.

While we applaud Mr. Hilton's apology to the LGBT community and their loved ones for his use of such a slur, we also feel compelled to point out that use of epithets can often lead to physical violence, as it appears it may have in this case, and that the Matthew Shepard Foundation has worked for more than 10 years to bring to people's attention the consequences of hateful or intolerant language.

Judy Shepard

Chair, MSF Governing Board