The Laramie Project

  1. Homophobia, racisim and other attitudes of intolerance are not necessarily always definite. There is a continuum between acceptance and intolerance. Below are a number of quotations from The Laramie Project. Place each letter on the continuum and then choose three and explain why you put it where you did.

  1. My secret hope was that they were from somewhere else, that then of course you can create that distance. We don’t grow children like that here. Well, its pretty clear that we do grow children like that here.
  1. And we have to mourn this and we have to be sad that we live in a town, a state, a country where shit like this happens. 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 like this. WE are LIKE this.
  1. And as I told you before, homosexuality is not a lifestyle with which I agree. Um, but having been thrown into this. (Pause) I guess I didn’t understand the magnitude with which some people hate.
  1. As much as, uh, part of me didn’t want the defense of them saying that it was gay bashing or that it was gay panic, part of me is really grateful. Because I was really scared that in the trial they were going to try and say that it was a robbery, or it was about drugs. So when they used “gay panic” as their defense, I felt this is good, if nothing else the truth is going to be told… the truth is coming out.
  1. . . . there’s just so many things about him that I found out that I just, it’s scary. You know about his character and spreading AIDS and a few other things, you know, being the kind person that he was. He was, he was just a barfly, you know. And I think he pushed himself around. I think he flaunted it. Everybody’s got problems. But why they exemplified him I don’t know.
  1. “I hope that Matthew Shepard as he was tied to that fence, that he had time to reflect on a moment when someone had spoken the word of the Lord to him—and that before he slipped into a coma he had a chance to reflect on his lifestyle”
  1. As far as the gay issue, I don’t give a damn one way or the other as long as they don’t bother me. And even if they did, I’d just say no thank you. And that’s the attitude of most of the Laramie population. They might poke one, if they were in a bar situation you know, they had been drinking, they might actually smack one in the mouth, but then they’d just walk away. Most of ‘em said they would just say, “I don’t swing that way,” and whistle on about their business. Laramie is live and let live.
  1. How could this happen? I – I think a lot of people just don’t understand, and even I don’t’ really understand, how someone can do something like that. We have one of the most vocal populations of gay people in the state… And it’s pretty much. Live and let live.
  1. You git bad apples once in a while. And I think that the gay community took this as an advantage, said this is a good time for us to exploit this
  1. Matt believed that there were crimes and incidents that justified the death penalty. I too believe in the death penalty. I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process. To show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy

Name:……………………………..

The Laramie Project

Acceptance Intolerance

QuoteExplanation

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  1. Many of the residents talk about their shock that “this sort of thing could happen in Laramie. ”Why do you think the people of Laramie were shocked to discover that the crime was in fact committed by a member of the community? Could this sort of thing happen in Canada? In Squamish? In Vancouver? What would your reaction be?

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  1. What do you think of the statement “live and let live”? Look at some of the comments from the film and discuss. Do you think it is more useful to openly discuss and debate contentious issues, or to “live and let live”? What is the difference between tolerance and acceptance? Why do you think gays and other minorities tend to move and congregate into larger cities rather than small towns?

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  1. Think about the media attention that this incident brought to the small community of Laramie. How did it affect the citizens? How did it impact the crime? How did it impact the trial? Do you think there would have been the same attention if the crime had happened in a bigger city? Would a big city feel the impact of such a high publicity case in the same way Laramie was impacted?

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  1. Look at the following quotation:

FATHER ROGER SCHMIT: I think right now our most important teachers must be Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. They have to be our teachers. How did you learn? What did we as a society do to teach you that? See, I don’t know if many people will let them be their teacher. I think it would be wonderful if the judge said, “In addition to your sentence, you must tell your story, you must tell your story.”

What do you think Father Schmit means when he suggests that Russell and Aaron are our most important teachers? How can Russell and Aaron be teachers?

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