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Laramie, Wyoming, is a complicated town that has only become more so since the infamous murder of a gay University of Wyoming student named Matt Shepard on a lonely dirt road in October 1998. A university town in the middle of one of the country's most rural, poor, and conservative states, it was unwittingly thrown into the middle of the nation's debates over homosexuality and hate crimes. While "Laramie didn't kill Matt," as University of Wyoming professor Beth Loffreda writes, "It might let us see how the politics of sexuality--perhaps now the most divisive issue in America's 'culture wars'--plays out in a forgotten corner of the country." As an insider and an outsider (she is the straight advisor to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Association and a state newcomer clearly in love with her surroundings), Loffreda approaches the complex questions the media, with their pack mentality, overlooked or shied away from using her own local but not provincial perspective. Why did Matt's death, which was one of 33 anti-gay murders that year, grip the nation? Why did none of the seven bias crimes bills proposed in Wyoming after the murder pass? What is the experience of being homosexual in a state with not a single gay gathering place to speak of and most people too afraid to be out? What happens when emotion--rather than action--is the only response to a hate crime? And how should Matt be remembered?
Leaving the media assumptions about the "hate state" in the dust, Loffreda deftly portrays a people deeply affected by what has happened in their midst, replete with the daily contradictions, political clashes, and halting transformations that defy sound bites. She introduces us to those the media never thought to interview--a jaded gay American Indian as well as Mexican American university students with their own stories of bigotry--and those making the real change in Laramie: people like Mike, who came out after Matt's death and has found the courage to become an activist, and the gays and lesbians who dressed as angels during the murderers' trials, blocking defrocked minister Fred Phelps and his virulent anti-gay messages with their enormous wings. Loffreda's nuanced, perceptive, and graceful discussion reminds us that the inheritance of Matt's death is far from settled for any of us. --Lesley Reed
From Publishers Weekly
In 1998, the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, shocked the country. His death and the subsequent trials of his two (ultimately convicted) murderers made headlines for more than a year. In this pungent and astute account, Loffreda, an assistant professor of English at Shepard's alma mater and the faculty adviser to the campus's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Association, details not only the murder and trials but also the profound effect of the ensuing publicity upon a basically decent and friendly community. Loffreda mixes a journalist's sharp eye with a sociologist's attentiveness to such issues as class, race, homophobia and gender, deftly bringing together interviews with Laramie's gay and straight residents, news reporting and cultural analysis. By debunking much of the media coverage (Shepard was not tied to a fence like a scarecrow), humanizing those convicted of the crime (Chasity Pasley, who supplied a fake alibi for one of the killers, worked closely with the campus gay group) and raising difficult questions (gay residents of Laramie were furious that little of the intense fund-raising for lesbian and gay causes that occurred around Shepard's death benefited local gay causes), she paints a judicious portrait of how such a murder could happen, and how the town was caught in the jaws of the national media circus that ensued. Getting behind the headlines, preconceptions and easy stereotypes, Loffreda has produced a book that mixes intelligence and compassion with crack reporting and sharp insight. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-Matt Shepard was tied to a fence and fatally beaten by two young men in Laramie, WY, in 1998, because he was gay. After his death, he was taken up as a symbol by various groups: rock stars wrote songs about him, celebrities gave speeches, proponents of hate-crimes legislation rallied with renewed rage. Christian Fundamentalists picketed not only the trial, but also the young man's funeral. One of the first questions Loffreda asks is: "Why Matt?" It can't be, as some rightists have claimed, "just because he was gay." There were 33 other anti-gay murders that year that received little or no attention. Did the fact that Matt was white, blond, good-looking, and clean-cut contribute to his media "appeal?" Was the crime's location a factor? How about gender? Two Laramie girls had been raped and killed around the same time. Did his murder resonate more because there are so many crimes against females that they no longer make "good copy?" Such questions are asked in the spirit of inquiry, not accusation, and lead to new thought. As the author examines the cultural repercussions of Shepard's death, she also provides an objective history of hate crimes and the efforts at legislation, taking both extreme conservatives and extreme liberals to task along the way. This is a timely book for today's YAs, as they begin to question the attitudes and patterns of the political and social spheres they're soon to inherit.Emily Lloyd, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Loffreda, an assistant English professor at the University of Wyoming and the straight faculty adviser to the campus Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Association, was new to the state in October 1998 when the brutal murder of 21-year-old Matt Shepard immediately became a flashpoint for the politics of sexuality in America. In an attempt to understand how and why this murder and not others in Laramie or around the country came to represent such deep-seated polarization, Loffreda observed and interviewed long-time locals, students, and the many people who descended on Laramie after the murder, including activists, journalists, politicians, and homicide investigators. In the aftermath of the media frenzy, Laramie narrowly passed a bias crimes law. This well-written account gets beyond the area's demographics and typical responses to the crime to uncover uncomfortable complexities and contradictions that belie our assumptions about this episode, which is far from the end of the story. This is a good cross-over book for understanding the complexity of peoples' struggle for (and opposition to) gay rights. Recommended for all public libraries. [See "Revisiting Laramie after the Trauma," p. 237, for an interview with the author.DEd.]DJames E. Van Buskirk, San Francisco P..-DJames E. Van Buskirk, San Francisco P.L Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Martin Duberman, author of Paul Robeson: A Biography and Stonewall
Enormously skillful and moving. . . . An account of extraordinary subtlety.
Review
"Getting behind the headlines, preconceptions and easy stereotypes, Loffreda has produced a book that mixes intelligence and compassion with crack reporting and sharp insight." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Publishers Weekly, starred review
[Gets] behind the headlines, preconceptions and easy stereotypes. . . . Mixes intelligence and compassion with crack reporting and sharp insight.
Review
"When we pledge allegiance to the United States we say 'with liberty and justice for all'; Losing Matt Shepard is an excellent book about citizens who don't understand that 'all'means 'all'.... It is a must-read for understanding the cultural wars still raging in the twenty-first century." -- Patricia Schroeder, former U.S. Representative from Colorado
The Boston Globe
A brilliant book full of cool reason and flashing insight.
David L. Kirp
Beth Loffreda has crafted a richly layered narrative that encompasses both the deed and the community where it occurred.
School Library Journal
As the author examines the cultural repercussions of Shepard's death, she also provides an objective history of hate crimes.
Book Description
The first book to look beyond the brutal events toward the broad implications of Matt Shepard's story. Loffreda shows how the politics of sexuality unfolds in a remote and sparsely populated area of the country.
Download Description
The murder in October 1998 of a twenty-one-year-old gay University of Wyoming student ignited a media frenzy. The crime resonated deeply with America's bitter history of violence against minorities. While the details of the tragedy are familiar to most people, the complex content is not. This book explores why the murder still haunts us and why it should.
Beth Loffreda is uniquely qualified to write this account. As a professor new to the state and the straight faculty advisor to the campus Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Association, she is both an insider and outsider to the events. She draws upon her own observations as well as dozens of interviews with students, townspeople, journalists, state politicians, activists, and gay and lesbian residents.
The book shows how the politics of sexuality perhaps now the most divisive issue in America's culture wars unfolds in a forgotten corner of the country. Loffreda succeeds brilliantly in capturing daily life since October 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming a community in a rural, poor, conservative, and breathtakingly beautiful state without a single gay bar or bookstore. Rather than focusing on one person Matt Shepard she presents a full range of characters, including the locals (both gay and straight), the national gay activists who quickly descended on Laramie, the homocide investigators, and even a cameo appearance by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Her book recounts not only the typical responses to Matt's death but also the surprising stories of ordinary people whose lives were transformed individual voices ignored in the media frenzy.
About the Author
Beth Loffreda is assistant professor of English and adjunct professor of women's studies at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
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