the laramie project, is going to be protested Options

[timeflies51]

I'm pretty sure this is where this goes. It's news in my town, at least.


My high school drama club is perfoming The Laramie Project.

For those of you who don't know, The Laramie Project is a compilation of interviews from people who were associated with the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming and those who knew Matthew himself. Matthew Shepard was brutally beated as well as robbed and left tied to a buck fence. He was found and rushed to the hospital, where he eventually passed away from his injuries. This was a hate crime committed against him because he was gay. The play has an extremely strong message.

Anyway, all of the drama club plays this year have had something to do with diversity. For example, the first one was about rights for blacks and the second was about rights for the disabled. So The Laramie Project was perfect for our theme.

At first, the administration didn't want us to do it. But SO MANY PEOPLE emailed them and explained to them why we should do it that they gave in. They've gone through the script and made us take out most of the bad language.

Now do any of you remember the church that's been protesting the funerals of soldiers? You know, the "Thank God for 9/11" and "Thank God for Hurriance Katrina" people? (If you don't, here's a nice taste for you.) Yeah, those crazy people.

They're the Westboro Baptist Church, and they go around protesting all of The Laramie Project productions that they hear about. Why? Not only because they claim that "God hates [sodomites]", but because Fred Phelps, the pastor, protested Matthew Shepard's funeral and was put into the play. He was portrayed in quite a negative light (but honestly, what did he expect?), so he's pissed. And yeah.

They're coming to protest our second performance, only about 18 to 20 people (so the paper says), and I bet a few people from our town might join them. (Dover School District is a part of our county. 'Nuff said.) The school has arranged for police officers to come and make sure they don't come on school property. The church is also protesting a few large churches, claiming that they are not condemning the homosexual lifestyle and that they didn't do anything to stop the production from happening.

Check their website that I linked (the church name). Go into the "upcoming pickets." It's all listed.

But the news about our performances have spread even to nearby towns, so we're expecting a HUGE audience for both! We're so incredibly excited and proud to put on this performance.

And hey, the best part is that across the street where they'll be protesting - there are no lights, so no one will be able to see them.

[Stefanny]

Ahh, seems like a lot of fun.