(AgapePress) - A pro-family leader says homosexuals have lost their main weapon in the fight for hate crimes legislation.

The beating death of Matthew Shepard was thought to be -- and was portrayed in the media as -- simply the result of the fact that he was homosexual. Now, however, it has been revealed that the young man was killed for refusing to pay drug dealers for his drugs.

According to a new ABC "20/20" investigation, which confirms a previously published MassNews exclusive, Shepard's murder was in fact a bungled burglary, motivated not by hate or homophobic rage but by money and drugs. In a recent interview -- their first since they were convicted -- Shepard's killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, detailed their actions and motives to "20/20's" Elizabeth Vargas. Their disclosures have since sparked new controversy over the activist outcry and mainstream media coverage that many feel contributed to Shepard's murder being characterized as a hate crime.

Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families says homosexual advocates have been rocked by this new information. "The Matthew Shepherd crime has been used by the gay rights movement as a battering ram to try to prove that America is awash with anti-homosexual hate crimes," he says, "so these new revelations that this was a run-of-the-mill crime by a couple of thugs is certainly an eye-opener."

Gary Bauer

Now, Bauer says, it will be interesting to watch how the media handles the newly emerging facts in the case. He believes Shepard case has pointed out a very real bias in the mainstream media. "What strikes me about this," Bauer says, "is how quickly the media, with very little evidence, was desirous and willing to grab the ball and run immediately with the idea that Matthew Shepherd had been beaten and killed because of his sexual orientation rather than some other factor."

The Campaign for Working Families spokesman says the Shepard case has been a crucial element in the passage of hate crimes legislation on Capitol Hill. Now, however, he feels these latest facts revealed in the case may have unraveled one of the pro-homosexual lobby's best arguments for hate crime legislation.

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