The Nineties (1990 – 1999)

1991

  • Althea Garrison runs for Boston City Council.
  • Dung Hà becomes the lover of the influential crime boss Hùng Cốm — her influence in the criminal underworld of Hai Phong grows.

1992

  • Althea Garrison runs for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She wins the election by 437 votes. She is subsequently outed in the Boston Herald by reporter Eric Fehrnstrom.
  • Marsha P. Johnson is found dead. Her death is ruled a suicide.

1993

  • Laws criminalizing homosexuality are repealed in East Germany.

1994

  • East and West Germany reunited — decriminalizing homosexuality in West Germany.
  • The U.S. Postal Service releases a Ma Rainey commemorative stamp.
  • Matthew Shepard attends his senior year of high school at the American School in Switzerland because his father is working in Saudi Arabia.
  • Althea Garrison runs for re-election, and is defeated.

1995

  • Althea Garrison runs for Boston City Council.
  • Dung Hà is arrested. Her lover Phuong leaves her, and her criminal empire begins to fall apart.
  • February: Matthew Shepard is assaulted while on vacation in Morocco.
  • May: Matthew Shepard graduates from the American School in Switzerland.

1996

  • It is around this time that Jackie Shane moves to Nashville and disappears for several years.

1997

1998

  • A new group forms but adopts the name of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee.
  • October 6: Matthew Shepard meets two men at a bar in Laramie, Wyoming and is lured to their truck. They rob him and torture him, and leave him tied to a fence.
  • October 7: Matthew Shepard is discovered by cyclist Aaron Kreifels. He is in a coma, and is ultimately brought to Pudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins where he remains on life support.
  • October 12: Matthew Shepard is taken off of life support and passes away.

1999