Every Story Matters: Laramie, Wyoming and Matthew Shepard in 1998

On a Sunday afternoon, Michael and I drove to the Fort Salem Theater to see the Laramie Project. Our friend, Michael Nichols-Pate, told us that he was directing the production, and we were bracing for an emotional performance. For those unaware, the story of Matthew Shepard is tragic. He was brutally murdered at a young age by two men in 1998, catapulting the issue of hate crimes against gay men and woman into the forefront of the country.

The play, titled the Laramie Project, details the incredible work of the Tectonic Theater. The Tectonic Theater was created in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman and his husband Jeffrey LaHoste to explore theater as a medium for social-political change. Their first production, Gross Indecency in 1997, addressed the Oscar Wilde trials related to crimes of sodomy. Their next project involved a modern trial about a gay man that will become just as well-known as Oscar Wilde. One month after the death of Matthew Shepard, members of the Tectonic Theater headed to Laramie, Wyoming to interview the community about the tragic event that took place.

After Michael and I walked into the gorgeous theater and procured our playbills, I was delighted to see Patti Jo. I last saw her at SUNY Adirondack’s Out of the Darkness event in April, and incidentally, our seats were nearby. Out of the Darkness, a fundraising event for the Capital Region American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, illuminated the often-hidden struggles of suicide survivors, and Patti Jo was one of the event’s organizers. On the Fort Salem stage, there were eighteen wooden sticks that depicted the fence where Matthew Shepard was tied and beaten by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at midnight in 1998. During the play, I learned that Matthew was tied to the fence for eighteen hours before being discovered and transported to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. That physical manifestation of those harrowing hours by Matthew, tied, bruised, and bleeding, is heartbreaking.

Similiar to the Come from Away musical, the Laramie Project has a small cast where each person plays several people. Actor Christopher Buettner cultivates a disparaging depiction of Aaron Mckinney and Russell Henderson, especially during the confession scenes before the trial, while also portraying Jedadiah Schultz, a theater student at the University of Wyoming. Tom Ferguson portrays not only the solemn Father Roger Schmit, who orchestrates the vigil for Matthew, but plays Detective Sargent Rob Debree. Jonathon Pate, who narrates the play and helps illuminate the names of the real people being interviewed, garnered the most impressive and heart-wrenching performance as Dennis Shepard, the father of Matthew Shepard, during the trial.

Personally, I was stricken with heartache when I realized that Matthew Shepard and myself both have fathers named Dennis. My father had just passed away two weeks ago at the age of 65. While his life was short, he lived a full life filled with family, friends, and thousands of memories. The loss of a parent pales in comparison to the loss of a son, and Dennis Shepard, along with his wife Judy, share an unimaginable grief. Dennis Shepard’s statement, superbly recited by Jonathon Pate, during the trial reveals the depths of a parent’s emotional rage. Mr. Shepard’s abdication for supporting the death penalty but wishing for a long life of introspection for the murderers elicited tears from everyone in the theater.

Concurrently, the trial of Aaron and Russell illuminated the defense lawyer’s argument of the “gay panic defense”. Dozens of cases around the world would involve its use until becoming illegal in recent years. Its origins began with the “twinkie defense” from the trial involving San Francisco Supervisor Dan White and his killing of Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to that position in 1978. This play aims to teach the younger generation about the precarious lives of gay men and women during that time period, and the legal system that did not always protect them.

Thankfully, thanks to decades of activism and intelligent, hardworking people across the United States, gay men and women have national recognition of their marriages and protection against discrimination. But the vastitudes of progress are always in flux, as groups across this county continue to challenge state and federal laws. The Laramie Project is a reminder that the fight for equality and justice will continue until every person in the LGBTQIA+ community can survive and thrive.

As the lights illuminate the theater at the end of the play, someone places a large picture of Matthew Shepard on one end of the stage while the cast stands around the wooden fence. It created a powerful visual of despair and hope, ensuring that Matthew’s tragic story will always be remembered. The local production of the Laramie Project has three more shows this coming weekend, with Saturday’s performance a part of Lower Adirondack Pride’s Pride Night Out events.

In closing, I want to highlight one of the quotes from the play that encapsulates the importance of gay representation across the world: imagine if more gay people stayed in small towns. We don’t have to imagine. As one of Lower Adirondack Pride’s shirts proudly proclaims, queer people exist everywhere and every story matters.