After 20 years without a permanent resting place, the remains of a 21-year-old college student whose brutal murder in 1998 has come to symbolise the plight of the gay community in America, have been interred at the Washington National Cathedral.
More than 2000 people gathered on Friday at the Episcopal cathedral, the second-largest cathedral in the country, to celebrate Matthew Shepard's life, mourn his death and honour his memory.
The service offered a measure of closure for Shepard's parents who, until now, hadn't found a spot that seemed suitable or safe enough to rest their child's remains.
It also provided a moment of unity and collective grieving for those in the LGBTQ community, for whom Shepard's death has for decades represented the pain and discrimination many had experienced themselves.
And the setting inside the same sprawling cathedral in the nation's capital where US presidents are memorialised lent to the weight of the moment as hymns, speeches, choral music and prayers for love, tolerance and equality bounced off the towering columns and sweeping arches, echoing across the nave.
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Shepard was an acolyte in his local Episcopalian church, and when Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop consecrated in the Episcopal church, suggested the National Cathedral as a fitting resting place for Matthew's ashes, his family agreed.
"Matt loved the church," said Dennis Shepard, Matthew's father. "Matt was blind, just like this beautiful house of worship. He did not see skin colour. He did not see religion. He did not see sexual orientation. All he saw was a chance to have another friend. Just like this beautiful home we have here.
"It is so important we now have a home for Matt," he said. "A home that others can visit. A home that is safe from haters."
Shepard was found badly beaten and barely breathing, tied to a split-rail fence on a dirt road near Laramie, Wyoming.
He'd spent 18 hours there in the near-freezing cold before a cyclist discovered him, at first mistaking him for a scarecrow.
He died five days later.
Police said his attackers targeted him because he was gay.
Shepard's death prompted a national reckoning - inspiring marches and protests, vigils and new laws.
Robinson delivered the homily, at times overcome with emotion.
"I have three things I want to say to Matt," he said through tears. "Gently rest in this place. You are safe now. And Matt, welcome home."
