Several hundred people gathered in Loring Park on Monday evening to hear Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered in Wyoming ten years ago, speak on the anniversary of his death. Flanked by Angel Action, a group dressed as angels originally created to prevent religious zealots from protesting Matthew’s funeral, a crowd of 300 people, including Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight, listened to Judy Shepard’s poignant words.

“What we are trying to do is make the world a safer place… Things are going to get better,” she said. “As my husband, Dennis, says, ‘It’s been 10 years of change, but no progress.’”

She called for the passage of hate crimes and employment nondiscrimination legislation, and for a society where everyone is treated equally.