Opera AACC will put on a show in May about Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was murdered at age 21.

“Considering Matthew Shepard,” written by conductor Craig Hella Johnson, will run on May 17 and 19 in the Kauffman Theater.

“This show just does a great job at humanizing it and saying, ‘Hey, this could have been anybody,’” fourth-year music student Jeremiah Goodman, who will play Shepard, said. “This could have been anyone’s kid, anyone’s friend, anyone’s brother. It could have been you, you never know.”

Shepard’s murder in 1998 led to the anti-hate crime legislation called The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

His parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation to support LGBTQ people.

Doug Byerly, a music professor who will conduct the performance, said it’s a “very, very difficult show,” but important.

“This isn’t a frilly opera or musical entertainment piece,” Byerly said. “The goal of this production is to help erase hate and to bring light into our community.”