Gay bashing is a physical or verbal attack or assault against a person just because he is perceived as gay, bisexual, or transgender. This is also termed as gay bullying, queer bullying, and queer bashing. The bashing may range from hurtful comments to sexual slurs and threatened violence. Extreme bullying may lead to murder as in the case of Mathew Shepard who was tortured and left to die on October 6, 1998.