(CNN) The Washington National Cathedral will dedicate a plaque next week to memorialize Matthew Shepard, whose cremated remains were interred there one year ago.

In one of the US' most notorious and brutal anti-gay crimes, the 21-year-old University of Wyoming student in 1998 was attacked and left in a field. He died days later as a result of his injuries.

The violent end to his short life ignited years of activism and advocacy that resulted in the passage in 2009 of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The law criminalizes violent acts committed against people because of their religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Shepard's remains were interred 20 years after his death at the Washington National Cathedral -- a venue known for its historic inclusion of LGBTQ people in the church, as it considers LGBTQ equality "one of the great civil rights issue(s) of the church in the 21st century," according to its website.

On Monday, the Washington National Cathedral and the Matthew Shepard Foundation will hold a ceremony to dedicate the Matthew Shepard Memorial Plaque to honor this legacy.

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