Sean Kennedy would take up for kids who had no friends or were shy or bullied.

He had come out as gay at 17 and, even before that, had often been bullied himself, his mother, Elke Kennedy, said during a speech at USC Aiken on Thursday.

But she didn't know about the bullying until after Sean, 20, was killed by another man in 2007. Kennedy considers the death of her son a hate crime, but South Carolina doesn't recognize hate crime legislation.

Kennedy was invited to USCA by Neil Bridgers, president of the Unity Alliance, a gay/straight organization on campus dedicated to awareness, support and advocacy for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Kennedy and her husband, Jim, the founders of the Sean's Last Wish Foundation, visited the White House and President Barack Obama last month for the signing of federal hate crime prevention legislation, but additional laws at the state level are also needed, she said.

Her son was a great kid who loved music. While in middle school, he would recruit people to the marching band and later served as drum major his junior and senior years. He would often bring people home, in some cases having just met them and discovering they had no place to stay.

Sean was anxious when he told his parents he was gay, and his mom responded, "There's nothing you could do to make me stop loving you."

He knew he was different and had told friends about finding the word "fag" carved on his truck. But he wouldn't live in fear, Kennedy said. He would love himself and live his life and be there for others.

Her son was leaving a Greenville bar about 3:45 a.m. on May 16, 2007. A man got out of a car, approached Sean and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He suffered massive brain injuries.

"When I got to the hospital, the doctor told us there was no chance of survival," Kennedy said. "His brain had separated. As the story unfolded, my son had died because somebody hated him for being gay, for being who he was."

She was comforted that 60 people, including many of Sean's friends, stayed near the ICU that day and into the night before he was pronounced brain dead. They told stories of how people had come to rely on Sean and couldn't imagine life without him. When he had received his driver's license, he had signed an organ donor card "and five people are alive today because of Sean," his mother said.

Police arrested Stephen Moller, 18, on murder charges that were later reduced to involuntary manslaughter. He served one year in jail before being released in July. Moller will be on probation for three years.

Kennedy said she had limited contact and got little information at any time with the solicitor's office and the victims' advocate. She is working with other organizations to get state legislation that would recognize hate crimes and would establish a level of criminal charges between murder and manslaughter. Kennedy is distressed by those key elected officials who have opposed this effort.

"The foundation was started to provide education about bullying and intolerance and how they can lead to senseless crimes," she said. "We want to teach about nonviolence and conflict resolution and that everybody has the right for equal protection under the law. In South Carolina, police and solicitors won't have the resources to investigate these kinds of crimes."

Kennedy wants to send a strong message that bullying, hatred and violence have no place in society - not in people's hearts and minds, homes, schools, churches, states and counties. Gay and lesbian teens are at risk. They hear anti-gay slurs, not just in their communities, but often at home, too, Kennedy said. Significant numbers of teens will skip school and even drop out because of harassment.

"There was no justice for Sean," she said. "But there were 750 people at his memorial service, and I found so much caring and compassion in the community. Sean had all these dreams and hopes and there was so much he accomplished in only 20 years. I am proud to be his mother."

Bridgers said Kennedy spent much of last Thursday at the university, talking with students about her son during an HIV-awareness and free testing program on campus sponsored by Unity Alliance. The organization was established at USCA several years ago but had been dormant until Bridgers and other students got involved.

"I'm going to graduate in two weeks, but there is interest in keeping the alliance going," Bridgers said.

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.