Laramie Project Reaction

“Prejudice and Homosexuality”, by Richard D. Mohr, is an essay about how gays and lesbians are subject to discrimination because of different beliefs. Mohr says that when we are evaluating the morality of behavior is to be prescriptive, or normative, not descriptive. In this essay, Mohr says that “Gays are discriminated against in several ways, including private-sector employment, housing, public accommodations, insurance of all types, custody, adoption, and zoning regulations that bar ‘singles’ or ‘nonrelated’ couples from living together” (Mackinnon 246). I completely agree with him.

“Although sharply divided, public attitudes toward gays and lesbians are rapidly changing to reflect greater acceptance, with younger generations leading the way” (NORC University of Chicago, 2010, p. 1). This push for international acceptance of the LGBT people could not come any sooner. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals as well as transgender individuals from around the world have almost all experienced some sort of discrimination in their lives. This is why there is such a gap between heterosexual and LGBT people. There are hundreds, if not more, reasons for why some people will not accept LGBT individuals and couples, whether it is religion, family values or simply the fact that some people find LGBT people unnatural. This is why the common sufferings

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, society wasn’t the most accepting of places for people who were different from the “social norms”. Now I know, people today still struggle with trying to fit in and be “normal” but it was different. Being a gay man living in San Fransisco at the time, which had a large gay population, Richard Rodriguez had a hard time dealing with the discrimination he faced. Richard Rodriguez was an American journalist who wrote and published a memoir about his life as a gay man. In October of 1990, Rodriguez published his memoir “Late Victorians” in Harper’s Magazine, a critically acclaimed publication of the time. In his memoir, Rodriguez describes what it was like to realize he was gay and watch as the country changed to become a more accepting place. He does this by setting up how things can change and then explaining the actual ways things change for the gay population.

Many people from the United States hold the belief that being gay is something that has always been considered to be okay. They believe that it is just a given. Despite people’s current beliefs on the subject, for a very long time, it was something that was widely believed to be taboo. In the past, people were imprisoned due to their sexuality. Regardless, throughout the decades, people have pushed for the widespread acceptance of people who are part of the LGBT community. Today, homophobia still exists in some parts of the United States, but we have come a long way since the early 1900s.

Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Company travelled to Laramie, Wyoming to ‘Conduct over 400 interviews with about 100 Laramie residents’ (Chalkdust Theatre Inc. Riverside Theatre Parramatta, 2010) following the tragic murder of Mathew Shephard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming in 1998, to then create the verbatim, docudrama play, The Laramie Project. The production follows the real residents of Laramie following this tragic event by portraying a large range of views and opinions on the topic of homosexuality and the incident from that of priest’s, the parents and friends of Mathew Shephard as well as Laramie residents who identify as gay or lesbian and many more. The director juxtaposes these contrasting opinions throughout the play to portray the conflicting emotions within Laramie about the event, all the while we follow Mathews last hours and the court proceedings to determine the consequences for the perpetrators as the town begins the healing process.

Moses Kaufman is the producer of the successful play “The Laramie Project” after a horrific incident that occurred in Laramie. Members of the artistic group of Kaufman 's, traveled to Laramie to find out more about the horrific incidence. The main aim of the whole project was to find the emotions, reactions, and reflections that the people of Laramie manifested concerning the beating and subsequent death of a twenty-three-year-old college student (Gale, 2016). A lot of questions were raised concerning the death as people had different point of views. Some thought it was a hate crime, others thought it was just a brutal assault or a form of robbery. Four hundred interviews were conducted so as to come up with the reasons behind the brutal murder straight from the town folks. The main issue was how homosexuality was defined in the crime. The Laramie Project, questioned the rights of the LGBT+ group. For example, why were Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders discriminated by the community and the society as a whole even though their rights were constitutional?

Laramie consisted of many other religions that presented the views of many of their citizens towards homosexuality. Reverend Fred Phelps, a minister from Kansas, negatively impacted the gay community as he protested against homosexuals. He believed gays were determined to go to hell because of God’s hatred for them. Reverend Phelps like McKinney was a homophobe, which upset many citizens when he ranted about gays going to hell right after the murder of Matthew Shepard. Many citizens including Romaine Patterson decided to take a stance against such hatred to “show the differences. And [to] think at times like this when we’re talking about hatred as much as the nation is right now, that someone needs to show . . . that there is a better way of

In The Laramie Project, a character name Cathy Connolly claims that gay the people in Laramie feel the oppression from society, and are

The Laramie Project is a play written by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project by interviewing the residents of Laramie Wyoming about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard. The play raises controversy revolving around homosexuality, hate crimes and acceptance. In addition to the various themes suggested by the play, the author wanted to present the varying perspectives toward homosexuality in the Laramie Community at the time of Shepard death. The three main perspectives towards homosexuality were hatred, tolerance and acceptance. The author also wanted to explore how these perspectives may have changed as the result of Shepard’s death.

“Sex was something mysterious which happened to married couples and Homosexuality was never mentioned; my mother told me my father did not believe it existed at all ‘until he joined the army’. As a child, I was warned about talking to ‘strange men’, without any real idea what this meant. I was left to find out for myself what it was all about.” Mike Newman, who was a child during the 1950s America recalls how homosexuality was perceived during the post-World War II era (F). This sexual oppression was not only in Newman’s household, but in almost everyone’s. While the civil rights movement began in the mid-1950s and ended late 1960s, the LGBT community started to come out of the closet slowly. The gay rights movement stemmed from the civil rights movement

Religion played an enormous role in Laramie before and after the incident with Matthew Shepard, as it continues to do in many religious individuals to this day. Jedidiah Schultz, a local of Laramie, Wyoming told his story about getting into Wyoming University. “And they brought me into their room and told me that if I did that scene, that they would not come to see me in that competition”(10). Schultz’s parents are an example of this time period where religion is a strong factor in making decisions of daily morals. When the Tectonic Theater Project spoke to the Reverend after Shepard’s beating, he addressed the wrongness of violence, but didn’t really directly address the issue of homosexuality, probably unwilling to directly speak out against

Not all citizens of Laramie conveyed a negative view towards the LGBT community. Marge Murray, together with some of the citizens, gave a notion of live and let live towards homosexuals. Marge explains,

After reading “The Laramie Project” your left with so many questions, ideas and emotions. The play is a series of interviews (reenacted exactly as they happened) to give the audience facts and true statements so that they can form there own opinion. The play takes place in Laramie Wyoming, after the “hate crime” that left 21 year old Matthew Shepard fighting for his life that ended soon after all because the fact that he was gay. Hate is a feeling and hate crime is acting on that hatred, but what exactly is a “hate crime”? What makes it so different from any other crime? Isn't all crime hate crime?

Should we avoid them, ignore, express our anger and disgust? Unfortunately, many people feel that way because they have a remote idea about people of different sexual orientation. For them homosexuality is perversion, abnormality or decease. The ignorance may foster fear, which in its turn leads to hostility. Homophobia is dangerous, because it affects all groups of people – heterosexuals and homosexuals, grown-ups and children, men and women. It may lead to violence and even death. There are numerous cases when people were actually killed because of homophobia. To name few of them – Matthew Shepard(homosexual), John Braun (heterosexual), Steve Kennedy (homosexual) and the list can be continued. As Jeffrey Nickel puts it, "[p]rejudice against homosexuality sharply limits how all men and women may acceptably behave, among themselves and with each other"( 529). It is obvious that we can no longer pretend that the homosexual issue is none of our concern. In attempt to evaluate our attitude towards people of different sexual orientation we will be able to understand them better. What is more important, we may overcome our prejudice, which often results in discrimination of one group against another. To acknowledge that there are people who are different and learn to tolerate them means to live in a safer world. The next question is: Do we have the right to discriminate against homosexuals? Until recently

It’s widely known that the LGBT life is spreading. There’s Pride month, same sex marriage is now legal, and more people than ever are starting to show who they really are. Even though it’s starting to be more accepted, I still struggled for months to find a way to tell people. I was scared my mom wouldn’t let me be happy and embrace who I really wanted to be. Then I had to consider how my friends would react, and it was an awful feeling losing some of the people that I thought was my friends through everything. Good definitely came out of the whole process though. Although, there are definitely still people who discriminate and banish people from their lives. All because others cannot accept who people choose to be. According to Morris (2017), in the 1950s, there was an investigation into homosexuals holding government jobs. This in turn, led into the first American demand for equality. In 67 years, we still cannot find a way for the life styles to be nationally accepted. “In 1965, as the civil rights movement won new legislation outlawing racial discrimination, the first gay rights demonstrations took place in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.” Also, in 1970, is when the pride marches started taking place in June every year Morris (2017). Acceptance is a hard pill for many to swallow, and it may even be