 There was a controversy when the act was being debated in the House of Representatives, and while Judy Shepard was in the audience, Representative Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., called the allegation that the murder of Matthew Shepard was because of his homosexuality a hoax; later she apologized for this statement.On October 11, 2009, she addressed a rally for LGBT rights in the United States Capitol, at the National Equality March, saying "I'm here today because I lost my son to hate... No one has the right to tell my son whether or not he can work anywhere.Whether or not he can live wherever he wants to live and whether or not he can be with the one person he loves -- no one has that right.