Fifty to 75 people remembered victims lost to hate violence, including the late Laramie, Wyo., college student Matthew Shepard, at a vigil and walk launched from The Ruby Kitchen in Hillcrest, last Monday night.

“Eleven years later, it is important that we continue to commemorate, not only Shepard’s life, but all others whose lives have been cut short by hate violence. We need to stand together against hate,” said local activist Ben Cartwright, who co-organized the event, held on the 11th anniversary of Shepard’s murder.

Shepard died of head injuries after being severely beaten by two men in 1998. The murder galvanized the nation to begin addressing the issue of hate violence against GLBT people.

“Shepard’s life serves as a reminder of the anti-LGBT hate that still exists,” Cartwright said.

With lit candles in hand, participants walked along University Avenue to the front of Obelisk bookstore, where a plaque in memory of late hate-crime victim John Wear is displayed in the sidewalk.

On a December day in 1991, Wear, who was straight, was walking with friends to a café on University Avenue when a man who thought he was gay stabbed him.

“[The plaque] commemorates John Wear, but it also commemorates everyone, locally, statewide, nationally and globally, that we’ve lost to hate violence,” Cartwright said. “It’s a very small remembrance, but it’s important that we commemorate everyone that we know has been lost.”

After attendees formed a circle around the plaque in a moment of silence, Cartright asked if anyone wanted to share a few words.

Marriage-equality activist Sara Beth Brooks was one of the first to speak: “I came out three weeks before Matthew Shepherd was killed. It was a really scary time to come out, even though I had nothing but support.

“It’s really important to remember those that have been lost,” she added.

Carole Kennedy, a political science professor at San Diego State University, was teaching at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, when Shepard died.

“I didn’t get to know him personally before he was killed, but I had the opportunity to meet his mother and [witness] the work she does against hate crimes. And I hope that we can all remember him tonight. He was a really brave young man,” Kennedy said.

“Laramie was really a place that was a little behind the times. Living in San Diego you can sometimes forget that there are places like that. I am so proud of his mom and his dad and the good work that has gone on in his name,” she added.

“I just want to acknowledge a friend of mine. His name was Jason Page from Waterloo, Iowa,” said local resident Robert Close-Rodriguez. “He was killed in a hate crime right before me and my partner left the state.”

After attendees spoke, Cartwright and co-organizer Ricky Cervantes led participants west to 10th Avenue and crossed the street to circle back to the restaurant where the vigil had begun.

Upon arrival, Cartwright asked attendees to blow out their candles in honor of hate violence victims and invited all inside for food and to socialize.

Inside, people filled up the restaurant and spoke about what the event meant to them.

“I think it’s important to remember the people that we’ve lost such as Matthew Shepard, to come out in solidarity and stand in unison, to say that ‘We can live in a world of peace and love,’ and that we don’t have to have hate and violence, and that we can come together and walk for it,” said San Diego Pride Director of Development Ken St. Pierre.

“I thought it was important to represent our various communities, especially those who aren’t able to come with us to show support and visibility,” said Gibran Guido, a graduate student at SDSU.

Besides a Univision reporter, who stopped the walk to interview co-leader Cervantes, both the vigil and walk were undisrupted.