The Laramie Project: A Hate Crime

A hate crime is defined as “a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence” (Oxford Dictionaries). Matthew Shepard’s death caused great disorder in Laramie despite the fact that it was originally an unknown town. In a sense, Laramie itself has changed due to the media attention of this event. Hate was originally “not a Laramie value” (Kaufman 15), but after this hate crime, the public has great sympathy for Matthew Shepard and distrust towards Laramie’s people. Even with all the support as well as the parade for Shepard, it is quite disappointing that there weren’t any regulations or protection offered to homosexuals, bisexuals, or transgender, after this crime. The media only showcased the event and

However, it was disappointing to see that the government couldn’t do the same. In a similar matter to how Shepard’s death influenced several gay right’s movements, Romaine Patterson was “ gonna be honored in Washington, D.C., from the Anti-Defamation League… Matthew [is guiding] this little path with his light for me to walk down” (Kaufman 96). In The Laramie Project, Matthew Shepard appears to be guiding her to combat anti-gay antics. His death really impacted her life as she commenced activism almost immediately after his death. Although not mentioned in the book, Patterson later founded Angel Action, which worked with the Matthew Shepard Foundation to fight for gay rights. After ten years, Beth Loffreda states, “My gut reaction is that Laramie is a somewhat better place to be than it was ten years ago, but I don’t know how to tell the story of the past ten years without having to think about, both what we’ve done, but also what we haven’t done” (Kaufman 114). Shepard’s death has changed Laramie and its community’s perspective about hate crimes as well as reconsider what actions they should have partaken