etheridge was actually supposed to write a theme song for the us women's soccer team when the news about matthew shepard reached the headlines. in her autobiography "the truth is..." she tells that it was ""like somebody just dropped a huge brick in her kitchen"" as she realized that being a big gay rock star did not help her changing the world. this led her to supporting some of her friends including ellen degeneres who organized a trip to the denver hospital. etheridge also states that shepherd's death made her especially sad since he looked like a gay friend of hers in high school which made her ""cry uncontrollably"".