"Hate is not a Laramie value.’’
When the theater company arrived in Laramie, they were impressed by the natural scenery and by the fact that the town seemed to be stuck in time. The people who live in the small town believed it to be the best place to live and would have not wanted it any other way. But what the theater company noticed was that the town had a major problem namely hate. The quote from above was taken from a part of the play where one of the members of the company described a public sign. The sign tried to remember the citizens living in Laramie that they should not be defined by hate directed towards anyone in particular. This sign also highlights the idea that the town had a real problem with hate and that they were trying to fix it but were generally unsuccessful.
"…Laramie is a town defined by an accident, a crime.’’
From the beginning, the narrator points out that not only Matthew suffered because of the hate of those around him but the town he lived in suffered as well. Laramie was associated up until Matthew’s murder with the college that was in the town. After that, those who heard about the town associated with the murder of a gay student and with the limited way of thinking many people in the town had. Thus, Laramie was, as the narrator pointed out, not a town but rather it became a noun that denoted hate and homophobic views.
"As far as the gay issue, I don’t give a damn one way or other as long as they don’t bother me.’’
Many people who lived in Laramie believed that there was no problem with their town. They acknowledged the fact that gay people were indeed living there but just as Marge pointed out, they were not bothered by their presence as long as they kept it to themselves and as long as it didn’t affect their lives in any shape or form. Matthew was a problem for many because he was not afraid to admit that he was homosexual: he was very open about his sexuality and got involved in various activities promoting equal rights for homosexuals. Because of this, his presence became a nuisance for many people living in Laramie and it is also what pushed the two men involved in his death to torture and leave him to die.
