It has been twenty-four years on October 12th since the tragic death of Matthew Shepard and Laramie has taken drastic steps since to redeem itself from its previous homophobic image, but the state of Wyoming has a long way to go in order to follow suit.
Matthew Shepard was a 21 year-old queer student at the University of Wyoming when he was brutally attacked and tied to a fence left to die on October, 7th 1998.
The attack left the city of Laramie labeled as a dangerous place for the queer community to not only live, but to visit as well.
Since the death of Matthew Shepard, Laramie has worked to create groups and events that support and give a voice to the queer community. Events such as Pride Fest and safe meeting places for coalitions have brought justice to Matthew Shepard’s name.
That being said, the state of Wyoming itself has not taken the same approach as the city of Laramie.
Currently, Wyoming politicians have proposed legislation that would actively work to harm transgender individuals in the state.
On February, 25th of 2022 a bill was proposed to slash state-funding for the university’s Gender and Women’s Studies program; a move that would bring irony to the state’s label as the “equality state.”
The bill was not signed into law, but it is a clear indicator that the state of Wyoming has a ways to go towards queer and gender equality.
This is not the only example of LGBTQ discrimination in the state. A school board in Fremont County removed language from its non-discrimination policy that protected students on the basis of sexual orientation. This move was made in May of 2022.
It is time to put pressure on Wyoming representatives to understand that the LGBTQ community is in Wyoming, and deserves equal protection in the state.
Matthew Shepard has motivated the community of Laramie to become more queer-friendly, and the state of Wyoming needs to do the same.
