It’s been 10 years since the October 12th, 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. Four years after the murder, the Tectonic Theater Project, a New York City company, entered Laramie to conduct hundreds of interviews with inhabitants of the town. They ended up creating a play based on those interviews as well as company members’ own journal entries and published news reports. The play, The Laramie Project, premiered in February 2000 and has been performed over 2,000 times worldwide since. The three-act play details the community reaction to the murder as well as the trial of Shepard’s murderers. In it, eight actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes. Time magazine created a website in support of the project and HBO made a film by the same name in which actors portrayed the play’s interviewees. The Tectonic Theater Project is returning to Laramie this week to re-interview the play’s real-life characters. In doing so, they hope to explore whether Matthew left any sort of legacy on the high plains town, 10 years after his passing. Returning to Laramie, a town of 25,000 near the Colorado border, is far from a theatrical exercise. They plan to use the new interviews to write an epilogue to the play before the 10th anniversary of Mr. Shepard’s death; it will be added to the published version of the script and will be included in future performances of “The Laramie Project.”
The trailer for HBO’s The Laramie Project
Read more about the attack on Matthew Shepard, the fate of his attackers, and civil reaction since then, after the jump.
1. Brad Pitt donates $100,000 to fight Proposition 8: “Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn’t harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8,” the actor said in a statement. 365 Gay News, Adventures of Gay Boys, The Advocate, Canada.com, D-Listed, Gay.com, Joe. My. God, GayWired.com, Me-me-me.tv, Pam’s House Blend, Pink News, SLOG, The Superficial, and Towleroad 2. On her blog, Ms. Lohan said, “I really cannot bite my tongue anymore when it comes to Sarah Palin. I couldn’t be more supportive of a woman in office, but let’s face it, it comes down to the person, and their beliefs, male or female. Is it a sin to be gay? Should it be a sin to be straight? Or to use birth control? Or to have sex before marriage?” GayWired, Me-me-me-tv, Pink News, SLOG, The Sword, and Towleroad 3. Ex- ‘N Sync’s boy bander, Lance Bass, has admitted to practicing in high heel shoes and called the prospect of having a male partner on Dancing With the Stars “silly.” Although he did add that he wants to do the gays proud on the show and would find an all-gay dance show “sexy.” E!Online, Gay Wired, Pink is the New BLOG, Pink News, Queerty, The Sword, and Towleroad
The two other stories and the poll, after the jump…
The phrase “Speak softly and carry a Big Stick” definitely sums Ronald Casis up. This soft spoken stud packs an 8″ thick cock that drives the ladies crazy. He’s currently single and admits he loves living in Miami.
Dick Armstrong is another one of Miami’s Cuban Cuties and has the 8″+ pinga to prove it. He’s now engaged and says the sex is phenomenal. He loves the thrill of public sex and that keeps their love life fresh and exciting. They were recently on a cruise and ended up fucking in an all glass elevator. We need to figure out what cruise that was? He beams as he admits he loved knowing he had an audience. We bet! Well, since both of these hotties admit they appreciate an audience watching them while they work their magic…let’s give ’em one!
Jared takes to things like a champ. While bent over, getting it hard and fast from Lucas in the rear, Jared looks more than comfortable using his hands and mouth to work on Derek’s rock-hard dick. The only times Jared pulls off of Derek’s cock are when he breaks away to moan and throw his head back in pleasure or to kiss Derek. When it is time to switch things up and ride Derek’s dick, Jared’s tight body looks so hot, his big dick flopping around with every bounce and thrust.
Jake is just fucking adorable! When one of the camera guys told him, “You have a very nice body,” he got a big smile on his face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone smile quite so much!
When asked about his best feature, he pointed to his abs. “That’s my pride and joy right there,” he said.
ASIA AND MIDDLE EAST Kuwait – Muslim leader denies issuing progressive fatwa on gender surgery. [SOURCE] EUROPE Bosnia – Amnesty calls on authorities to protect Bosnian gay festival. [SOURCE] Britain – Gay holiday company ceases trading after XL collapse. [SOURCE] Cardiff, United Kingdom – Welsh Assembly Memeber joins protest against deportation of gay asylum seeker. [SOURCE] Copenhagen, Denmark – Human rights conference to be held alongside Outgames. [SOURCE] Scotland – LGBT toolkit for Scotland’s schools to be unveiled. [SOURCE] United Kingdom – Home Secretary urged to spare gay man from Uganda deportation. [SOURCE] United Kingdom – New guidelines suggest gay men should have annual HIV test. [SOURCE] NORTH AMERICA Albany, New York City – State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos opposes same-sex marriage, bullying at Log Cabin Republican meeting. [SOURCE] California – Gay marriage proponents outspent in ballot battle. [SOURCE] Chicago, Illinois – Record number of preregistrants for AIDS Run & Walk, this Saturday. [SOURCE] Laramie, Wyoming – University of Wyoming to dedicate bench to Matthew Shepard. [SOURCE] Madison, Wisconsin – Man arrested after alleged gay slurs, scuffle. [SOURCE] Oakville, Ontario, Canada – Canada anti-hate law should not extend to Internet jokes, critics say. [SOURCE] Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Senator James Inhofe gay bashes in new ad. [SOURCE 1][SOURCE 2] Sacramento, California – Heterosexual couple protests gender-neutral labels. [SOURCE] San Francisco, California – Poll: Support for anti-gay amendment wanes. [SOURCE] San Francisco, California – Synagogue creates a blessing for anonymous sex. [SOURCE] San Francisco, California – Gay activist and inventor, John Burnside, dies at 91. [SOURCE] Tribune, Kansas – 16-year-old attempts murder of fellow teen because he’s gay. [SOURCE] United States – U.S. law sends some bi-national, same-sex couples into exile. [SOURCE] United States – CDC urges government to double HIV budget. [SOURCE] Utah – Philanthropist kicks in $1M to fight California gay-marriage ban. [SOURCE] Verona, Wisconsin – Wisconsin church music director fired for openly gay life. [SOURCE] Washington, D.C., U.S.A. – Man attacked in suspected gay bashing dies. [SOURCE] OCEANIA Australia – New Liberal leader urged to honour gay rights pledge. [SOURCE] Sydney, Australia – Sydney named 2nd best gay city in the world. [SOURCE] SOUTH AMERICA Brazil – President in favor of civil unions. [SOURCE]