The railroad as a symbol
The characters all mention the railroad and how it influences in a positive way their town. Many characters see the railroad as a symbol for advancement since it helped the town grow and develop much more rapidly than it would have developed if the railroad would have not existed.
Too afraid to go
A motif found in the play is the idea that the characters coming from New York were afraid to go to Laramie because they feared for their own safety. The actors knew that by going there and by putting themselves out in the public, they were exposing themselves in a community that did not accepted gay people of those who associated themselves with the gay community. Despite this, they still agreed to go and they still interviewed the people connected with the murder or just with Matthew and with the gay community in general.
Positive change
A common motif in the play is the idea that Matthew wanted to make a positive change. This aspect is mentioned by numerous characters who knew Matt and who knew about his interest in the human rights or in the rights of the LGBT community.
Moving out
Another common motif is the idea that many gay and lesbian people moved out of Laramie because they were afraid and because they felt they were not accepted. Those who remained, chose to keep their sexual orientation a secret and tried not to associate themselves with other openly homosexual people because they knew that they will be stigmatized.
Naked
At one point, Marge admits that she enjoys walking around naked. Her nakedness is used here as a symbol to suggest the idea that every secret will eventually be discovered in the end and no matter how hard a person tries to keep something a secret, the truth will eventually get out and affect negatively the person who tried to keep the secret.
