The Laramie Project Ten Years Later Analysis

As people go on with their lives and blossom into adults, some begin to wonder about their preferences in lovers and explore other sexual orientation. Unfortunately, those who become comfortable with their different orientation are often faced with violence & discrimination. The Laramie Project & its sequel The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, by Moises Kaufman, elaborate on the untimely murder of Matthew Shepard by the hands of two homophobes. Through the dialogue of the characters in both plays, it is evident that Matthew Shepard’s death gave LGBT hate crimes the media attention it needed, but it also generated inaccurate news coverage that did more harm than benefit. It is clear that media analysis isn’t enough to cause reform for the LGBT

One example is the “gay panic” strategy, where inaccurate reports of crime imply that “a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender victim shares responsibility for being attacked, or that an attack was justified because of an unwanted romantic or sexual advance. ("GLAAD Media Reference Guide - In Focus: Hate Crimes." GLAAD. 2011. Web.). This strategy has been used during the Matthew Shepard case, in which a judge barred defense lawyers from it as a defense. During the mass interviews done by the Tectonic Theater Project, Laramie, Wyoming was swarmed with reporters keen on gathering information on Shepard’s case. A majority of the interviews involved people playing the “gay panic” card, asserting that Matthew might have done something to cause his murder. Zubaida Ula addresses this during an interview, saying “But basically he said, ‘C’mon guys, let’s show the world that Laramie is not this kind of town.’ But it is that kind of town. If it wasn’t this kind of town, why did this happen here? …. I mean, these are people trying to distance themselves from this crime. And we need to own this crime. I feel. Everyone needs to own it. We are like this. We ARE

WE are LIKE this.” (Kaufman 57-58). The true mentality of the town’s residents was most evident through its religious ministers, namely the Baptist Minister and Reverend Fred Phelps, a notorious anti-gay activist. Reverend Phelps considered Shepard a “poster boy for the gay lifestyle” (Kaufman 76). The Baptist Minister also had a similar mindset, as seen when he says that Shepard should have reflected on “a moment when someone spoke the word of the Lord to him.” (Kaufman 88). Scientific studies showed that 35% of Laramie’s population is namely Christian ("Laramie, Wyoming Religion." Laramie, Wyoming Religion. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.) and 66% of Wyoming is Christian, (“Religion in Wyoming and the West: The Religious Landscape Survey." UW Religion Today. Web.) There is also a correlation between LGBT discrimination and religion, as