Laramie Inside Out

How Matthew Shepard's Murder Changed Laramie

In October 1998, Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and left lashed to a fence 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.

As Laramie braced for the trials of Matthew's killers, filmmaker Beverly Seckinger returned to her hometown to see how his murder was transforming the site of her own closeted adolescence. In Laramie Inside Out, we meet "God-hates-fags" Westboro Baptist Church Reverend Fred Phelps, who condemns Shepard and all LGBTQ people to hell. But we also meet students, teachers, parents, and clergy determined to fight for the soul of their community.