Laramie Inside Out Screening

In October 1998, Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and left to die. The horror of this murder pushed Laramie into the media spotlight and sparked a nationwide debate about homophobia, gay-bashing and hate crimes.

Filmmaker Beverly Seckinger returns to her hometown to see how this event had affected the site of her own closeted adolescence. Along the way she meets “God-hates-fags” Westboro Baptist Church Reverend Fred Phelps, who condemns Shepard and all homosexuals to an eternal hell. But Seckinger meets many more—parents, teachers, clergy and students—telling their stories, speaking out and taking action.

The film will screen on Wednesday, October 9 at 7 p.m. in Annenberg Auditorium in Carswell Hall.  A Q&A with filmmaker Beverly Seckinger will follow the screening.