The People of Laramie, Wyoming: Do They Really Care? by Theron Guerra

In viewing the Laramie Project, one was able to understand a town that had been ridiculed and written of as a “Gay-bashing” town and for good reason. A twenty-two year old man had just been beaten to death not because of his actions but because of his sexual orientation; in other words he was beaten to death because he was gay. This film had lots of emotion and was driven by the curiosity left by this small, western town. The crime itself gained national attention for the sickening display of hate conveyed by two of Laramie’s own in a region of the United States already stereotyped for that kind of behavior. The Laramie Project was just that a “project” to find out what this town was really like. Throughout the movie/documentary, residents were interviewed about the crime. Residents from the town differed from emotionally charged responses about the crime to more defensive stances saying that the town was and is not like that, that Laramie is “Live and let live.” It was obvious to the people of Laramie that this crime was a big deal and that they were “under the microscope” by the entire United States. What made this crime so infamous was the fact that it was a hate crime; the town of Laramie knew that they had to interpret this crime much differently.


The movie brought to my attention that the people of Laramie were now worried about their town. They agreed to be interviewed for the Laramie Project in hopes that their town would not be tarnished. This brought me to the point where I questioned whether or not the residents of Laramie, Wyoming actually cared about Matthew Shepard or were they simply doing the interviews in hopes that the “true” side of their town came out. One lady in particular argued that Laramie is “Live and let live,” she stated that people did not care if you were gay or not that everyone pretty much kept to themselves. I find this quote repeatedly used by various residents to be absurd and closely related to the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the United States army. By saying “Live and let live,” is to say that everyone minds each other’s business, that there would be no interaction which is impossible in any community. The “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is ineffective because people that are gay will not come out or be true to themselves because of the connotation of the policy. They will also be more likely to be released from army duty if they confess. A gay resident of Laramie, Wyoming said it best by saying, “Live and let live is such crap, basically don’t tell them [residents] you are gay and you won’t get beat up.” It is to say that the “Live and let live” moral law is only upheld as long as you stay silent.

Now the opposite side to this was displayed by certain “heroic” characters in the film. “Heroic” characters such as Reggie Fluty and Aaron Kreifels, the lady officer who untied Matthew Shepard and the initial founder of Matthew. Reggie Fluty is portrayed a very heroic and a good person who takes care of her kids. Her character is very believable. Aaron Kreifels is also portrayed as very heroic and becomes the “romantic hero” as conveyed by Tigner. Amy Tigner wrote The Laramie Project: Western Pastoral where she talks about how the Laramie Project is based on a western romance story. In her description of the Laramie Project she also explains that it has a, “typical romance structure upon which Westerns are based.” She reveals that some of the Tectonic Theatre Project’s writers. “Craft Kreifels’ words so as not to include some homophobic remarks that he made. Though the writers do include other characters who utter homophobic opinions, they chose not to expose Kreifels’ anti-gay sentiments.” This would be “out of character” for Kreifels who is the whole reason this story was brought to our attention, by defaming him in the Laramie Project, the Tectonic Theatre Project may have lost some dramatic effect. This leads me to say that the Laramie Project was not completely authentic in its portrayal of certain characters such as Kreifels. This could be said about many of the townspeople of Laramie, Wyoming. The Laramie Project was an artistic way of representing the town of Laramie and not every single minute of recordings was broadcasted in the movie. Amy Tigner addresses this by stating, “Editing reconstructs the interviews with real people into a theater with consistent characters in a through-line narrative, yet the play maintains that the audience is hearing the unadulterated truth.” This thrusts the Laramie Project under the bus suggesting that only some of the truth has come out.

I feel that this is true in the sense that some of the people of Laramie, Wyoming could have cared less about Matthew Shepard. The residents cared more about the overall image of their town referring back to McKinney and Henderson they were, “floored by the fact that these two criminals grew up in Laramie.” Instead of accepting the fact that two of their own did this awful hate crime, they refuse to believe that this could have happened in their town. Some residents claimed that Matthew was to blame saying that it, “Seemed to be fifty-fifty because Matt tried to make a move on them [Henderson and McKinney].” Another person who is very adamant about Laramie’s morals is the doctor who treated both Matthew and McKinney and said, “It offends us when you say that someone was repeatedly beaten in our town.” He expresses here that it is offensive to him and the residents of Laramie that such a crime was committed in his town and inferring that this type of behavior does not happen here which explains the “offensive” term. Although these interviews were compelling and revealing, none was more revealing about the town of Laramie than the wife of the highway patrolman, Sherry Johnson [played by Laura Linney]. Johnson was quoted saying that the media, “Portrayed him as a saint, I have found out about his character and he was a barfly,” she referred to her husband’s fellow co-worker who died and mentioned there was only a tiny piece on him in the newspaper and how it upset her. Then the interviewer asked, “But don’t you think that Matthew’s story is bigger?” and she responded with, “Murder is murder.” The last impression that we leave from Sherry Johnson is that she feels she must defend herself and finishes her interview with, “I don’t know, I just don’t understand.” This reveals that although Sherry Johnson has already jumped to conclusions, she admits to not understanding the tragedy of this situation. Although I do think every human life is important, to compare this to a kid, a college student our age, who has been dragged through the rough terrain, beaten and pistol-whipped repeatedly and left to die is not the same as an unfortunate accident that cost the highway officer his life.

Although I would like to say that the town of Laramie has learned and grown socially, it is difficult to make that claim. After reading Laramie Killing Given Epilogue a Decade Later by The New York Times writer Patrick Healy, it makes more sense to say that hardly anything has changed in this stereotypical western town. Reggie Fluty, the heroic policewoman who untied Matthew Shepard, stated in the ten year anniversary interview that, “Maybe now we can go on and we can quit being stuck, you know?” This statement makes me cringe because after ten years, the state of Wyoming still has no hate crimes law passed as stated by Moisés Kaufman. Even the mayor of Laramie, Klaus Hanson stated in his interview with Kaufman, “Now that you have touched upon it, I will need to rethink it.” regarding the fact that Mr. Hanson was not doing anything to commemorate the anniversary of Matthew Shepard. This made Kaufman shake with anger along with the fact that, “some in Laramie were no longer speaking of Mr. Shepard’s death as a hate crime but rather as a drug-fueled robbery gone wrong.” This sickens me to see that even the mayor of Laramie is not commemorating Matthew Shepard and further makes Laramie look like a socially non-developing social town that exhibits Western fundamentalism to diverse thinking and change. Imagine if this was our Chancellor at the University of Denver after a horrid tragedy or the Mayor of Denver who concurred with Klaus Hanson’s action.

With that said, we must not just focus on the town of Laramie itself, but Matthew Shepard. We shall never forget Matthew and the ultimate price that he paid for being himself. The Laramie Project was inspired by Matthew Shepard and his story of his openness of being gay even at his college by joining the gay club on campus. As Bob Weir, the author of False Prophets Are Ravenous Wolves, describes Matthew’s horrid fatal beating as, “(Happening) not because he had committed a crime or hurt anyone, but because he was gay.” We must not forget the followers of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas and for the evil they stand for. As a society we must never forget that our people, Americans waved signs over Matthew’s funeral saying, "Matt Shepard rots in Hell" and "Fags deserve AIDS," this is part of our history now and we must only grow from this experience.

Matthew Shepard will never be forgotten, although I feel the town of Laramie will not either for unfortunate reasons. This town may never grow out of being a place of hateful crime because of the remote distance it has from the more cultured parts of the United States. As you can see, the town of Laramie has not learned from its mistakes. Even after ten years, there is still no grave site where Matthew was beaten and left for dead. Although some of the town of Laramie may not remember Matthew Shepard and were really trying to just ‘Save Face’ it is our job to remember him in order to further develop as a productive and accepting society.

Laramie Killing Given Epilogue a Decade Later by Patrick Healy

False Prophets Are Ravenous Wolves by Bob Weir

The Laramie Project: Western Pastoral by Amy Tigner

Exploring Sources for Our Next Assignment

Using the American West database available through Penrose Library, spend the next 15-20 minutes and explore the kinds of primary sources that are available within this database. Before the end of class, identify three sources that look interesting to you. Post their titles to our course blog and explain why they look interesting to you.

Before class on Monday, visit Penrose Library and find (at least) one book about the history of the American West that intrigues you. Check it out and bring it to class on Monday.

Defining and Responding to Turner’s Frontier

Let’s start class by reflecting on the excerpt from Frederick Jackson Turner’s essay that you read for today. One of the ways that Turner defines the frontier is this: “In this advance [of westward expansion], the frontier is the outer edge of the wave—the meeting point between savagery and civilization” (16). In your own words, explain what you think Turner means here. How does he define the frontier? How does this definition of the frontier relate to what it means to be an American? What group(s) of people does this definition celebrate? Who does it diminish or overlook? Ultimately, how does Turner’s discussion relate to your own understanding of the American West?

Discussing "The Laramie Project"

Directions: In small groups, I would like you to respond to the following question and together draft a response that you will post to our blog. Take about 20 or so minutes to discuss this question and respond to it. Then, you will present your response to the rest of class, and we will use your thoughts as a way to open up a conversation about the film, its rhetoric, and research questions you might pursue in our first assignment.

Group #1: Logie, Reggie & Rachel: In our course blog about the background readings to The Laramie Project, many students commented on the impact of not portraying Matthew Shepard in the play and later the film. As a group discuss why you think Kaufman made this choice. How did it enhance his purpose? How did it impact the piece? Identify three scenes that you think were enhanced by Shepard’s absence and explain how it enhanced the film’s main point.

Group #2: Tracey, Theron & Jon: In terms of its creative methodology, The Laramie Project draws on extensive interviews—a qualitative research strategy—which raises the ethical question of how fairly the film represents the people of Laramie. As Don Shewey writes, “On opening night in Denver, it was impossible not to be aware of the enormous responsibility that the actors felt to do justice to the people who had entrusted them with their stories and their innermost feelings” (68). In your group, discuss how the film portrays the different groups of people that comprise this town. How fair, authentic, or compassionate is this representation? Identify one scene that you think does justice to the residents of Laramie and one that you think might not and explain why you picked these scenes.

Group #3: Hayley, Michelle & Kathleen: In “Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love,” Jim Corder suggests that “we are always standing somewhere in our narrative when we speak to other or to ourselves” (17). As a group, discuss Corder’s ideas about how the narrative of our lives influence the emergence of our identities as arguments and how rhetoric ought to function in our communication with each other, especially when we disagree strongly with each other. How does The Laramie Project dramatize the clash of different narratives about homosexuality with a small Western town? What role does love—or perhaps more precisely, forgiveness—play within the film’s argument about the murder of Matthew Shepard and what we as a community—or a nation—should do in response to it?

Group #4: Sarah, Heather & Christine: One of the arguments that Amy Tigner makes in her essay about The Laramie Project is that as Kaufman and the Teutonic Theater Project shaped the interview transcripts into a play, they ended up conforming to conventions of Western American myth. In what ways is this film Western? Despite its appeal to a national audience, how does it shed light on life in a small university town in the rural West? How does this sense of region relate to our national identity?

Group #5: Shelby & Alex: In terms of rhetorical appeals, it probably goes without saying that the predominant appeal of The Laramie Project is pathos. As a group, remind each other what an appeal to pathos is and discuss how this kind of appeal works to help persuade an audience of an argument. Identify three scenes that you think demonstrates different, but particularly effective appeals to pathos and explain precisely what kind of emotional state the film cultivates within the viewer. How does this emotional appeal support the film’s main claim?

Your Initial Response to “The Laramie Project”

Before we discuss the film, I’d like you to take a moment and reflect on your response to it. As you do so, I’d like you to identify the scene or character that you think is the most significant, or the one that had the most significant impact on you as a viewer. Describe this moment in the film or this character and explain why it impacted you. In your mind, how does it relate to the overall point of the film? Who else (think about audience here) do you think would find this scene important or should pay attention to this character?

Responding to “Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love”

Before class on Monday, I would like to you reflect on Jim Corder’s essay, “Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love.” First, in your own words summarize the main point of this article. What is Corder’s main claim? How does he define the term “argument”? How does he explain his definition? What makes his definition unique or interesting? Second, identify a quotation from the essay that you think is significant. Why do you think it is significant? How it relates to main point of this essay?

Reading Response: Background to "The Laramie Project"

Reflect on the two articles assigned for today’s class (Moises Kaufman's "Into the West," and Don Shewey's "Town in Mirror"). What struck you as interesting, significant, or even disturbing from the reading? Cite a quotation from either article that represents what caught your attention and explain why you responded the way you did to it. Conclude your comment with a question or two that you might pose about the reading or about the film that you’d like to think further about as we begin viewing it.