DENVER, CO-

The JustUsBoys website recently made headlines when Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, posted on the website’s message boards asking for advice in the final hours leading up to his tragic suicide. The outpouring from the public regarding the kind of role a gay community plays in helping to avert isolation of gay youth was not lost on the owner of JustUsBoys who wanted to find a way to do more than provide a safe place to talk. JustUsBoys is seeking to raise funds and awareness for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an organization created by Matthew’s family to raise awareness and promote human dignity for everyone by engaging school, corporations and individuals. The goal at JUB is to raise $10,000 for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, then match those donations with a corporate donation of another $10,000. Since Matthew’s senseless death, countless more young gay men and women have been the victims of violent crime and harassment simply because they were different. Many hate crimes go unreported, and the bullying and harassment doesn’t stop.