(no subject)
May. 1st, 2004 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qp_archiveI went to Laramie Project this afternoon. It was good. Made me lose track of time, which is always a good thing.
I knew the story before I came in. Even in middle school, I was reasonably aware of the news and knew that this was a Bad Thing. I didn't know some of the details.
I'm still not entirely coherent. I've never lived in Laramie. I may have driven through, either on the drive out from Iowa or on the way somewhere when we lived in Cheyenne and I was younger than 5. I remember the Wyoming wind and the blue sky that they talk about, though. I remember hiding my face in my dad's jacket because it was too strong and later, during a rest stop, getting out of the car and leaning on the wind, feeling it start to hold me up. But that's about it.
It seemed like the words it had chosen were relatively balanced. Certainly they were chosen with an objective in mind, but it didn't feel like they were skewed. What can I say? For the first part, time didn't matter. So many words. One scene-the man who found him, the detective who responded to his call, the doctor who treated him in the hospital.
The funeral. I suppose one of the parts that brought me closest to tears was the service: it's the liturgy we use, it's the service that is said over most people who are buried in the Episcopal church. And it carries such an impact. I don't know why.
Mr. Shepard's speech.
I feel swamped with words.
Afterwards I called my aunt who was a priest in Lusk, WY at the time. Strangely--not surprisingly, there aren't that many people in Wyoming--she knew the priest at the church he went to, at home. He was an altar server there, she said. She mainly talked about the community's shock--the feeling of "I don't care who it was, that's not right." Also that even though there's been no official legislation, people were working to turn its image around, for instance the Casper paper running a 4-page color feature on gay rodeos.
I'm not feeling entirely social. No, not especially. I may head down to the party for a little while. I may sleep. I may go find people after everything's over.
I knew the story before I came in. Even in middle school, I was reasonably aware of the news and knew that this was a Bad Thing. I didn't know some of the details.
I'm still not entirely coherent. I've never lived in Laramie. I may have driven through, either on the drive out from Iowa or on the way somewhere when we lived in Cheyenne and I was younger than 5. I remember the Wyoming wind and the blue sky that they talk about, though. I remember hiding my face in my dad's jacket because it was too strong and later, during a rest stop, getting out of the car and leaning on the wind, feeling it start to hold me up. But that's about it.
It seemed like the words it had chosen were relatively balanced. Certainly they were chosen with an objective in mind, but it didn't feel like they were skewed. What can I say? For the first part, time didn't matter. So many words. One scene-the man who found him, the detective who responded to his call, the doctor who treated him in the hospital.
The funeral. I suppose one of the parts that brought me closest to tears was the service: it's the liturgy we use, it's the service that is said over most people who are buried in the Episcopal church. And it carries such an impact. I don't know why.
Mr. Shepard's speech.
I feel swamped with words.
Afterwards I called my aunt who was a priest in Lusk, WY at the time. Strangely--not surprisingly, there aren't that many people in Wyoming--she knew the priest at the church he went to, at home. He was an altar server there, she said. She mainly talked about the community's shock--the feeling of "I don't care who it was, that's not right." Also that even though there's been no official legislation, people were working to turn its image around, for instance the Casper paper running a 4-page color feature on gay rodeos.
I'm not feeling entirely social. No, not especially. I may head down to the party for a little while. I may sleep. I may go find people after everything's over.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-05-02 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-02 04:27 pm (UTC)Yeah- it was all over the news at the time, but I haven't heard much about it afterwards except occasional references, mostly regarding super-fundamentalist protests and partly about dealing with the results.