Iowa parents protest high school "Laramie Project"

REIKE PLECAS wrote:

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TheProf
I am truely glad that we can agree to disagree. However please dont think of our community as narrow minded or as bigots. In a mirror the image is one sided! Have you ever visited, been educated, taught in Iowa. If the answer is no, then your comment is viewed as being a bigot. It may be said that yes the play may be a good educating technique, however if the teacher if faced with budget cuts and rallies children against the community, parents and peers how is the opposing figure to look at this incident.
The fact remains: bad things happen to bad people! It is a shame that Mr. Sheperd lost his life not only to: drugs, disease and dispare. What we need to lift up is the positive impact his life could have if we use it as a poster against drug and alcohol use, or safe sex. I hope that we as educators and friends can gage war on all crimes! Peace my friend, and the next time you visit Iowa look me up!

Now you're just being a bitch... How dare you pass judgement on Matthew Shepherd as a 'bad' person.. He wasn't.... Making a statement like that just shows your own bigoted outlook...

His story is not about drugs, alcohol, or safe sex,,, and you will never be allowed to turn it into such... His story is about a hate crime... by homophobes who hate homosexuals.... and a young man murdered based on that....

How eloquently you blame the victim. Drugs, alcohol and despair did not tie Sheppard to a fense and pistol whip him. bigots did. The Laramie Project is an excellent vehicle for teaching kids about the dangers of bigotry.

Do you really want to teach your kids that they should be tortured and killed if they are depressed and/or experimenting with drugs or alcohol?

REIKE PLECAS wrote:

<quoted text>
TheProf
I am truely glad that we can agree to disagree. However please dont think of our community as narrow minded or as bigots. In a mirror the image is one sided! Have you ever visited, been educated, taught in Iowa. If the answer is no, then your comment is viewed as being a bigot. It may be said that yes the play may be a good educating technique, however if the teacher if faced with budget cuts and rallies children against the community, parents and peers how is the opposing figure to look at this incident.
The fact remains: bad things happen to bad people! It is a shame that Mr. Sheperd lost his life not only to: drugs, disease and dispare. What we need to lift up is the positive impact his life could have if we use it as a poster against drug and alcohol use, or safe sex. I hope that we as educators and friends can gage war on all crimes! Peace my friend, and the next time you visit Iowa look me up!

I commend those students who spoke to the school board last night. Not only did you express yourselves eloquently, but also you stood up to dissenters. The Laramie Project is an invaluable production for the West Des Moines community, raising a myriad of issues that must be addressed. It pains me to realize that many individuals across the nation are viewing only the negative side of West Des Moines--the close-minded side that appears homophobic and truly ethnocentric. As an educator, I embrace ALL students in my classroom. I value each individual, regardless of his/her personal choices. As a Christian, I also embrace all students in my classroom. God gives no one the right to judge another person; that power rests in Him alone. In fact, Jesus would have welcomed Matthew Shephard with open arms, just as he welcomed prostitutes and tax collectors. What right do we have to treat each other so inhumanely and to ignore this inhumanity?

My 8th Grade English teacher was stabbed to death in his apartment in Des Moines by a couple thugs he picked up (in the late 70s); my friend Joel Larson,(ex-Des Moines) was also stabbed to death in Minneapolis by a murdering gaybasher who now rots in jail.
So Mr. Plecas (or Miss, whatever you might be), please don't lecture those who would stand up to you and your midguided bigotry. I grew up in Iowa and happily fled for San Francisco in the early 1990s.
This has nothing to do with "language" at all. It's about exposing gay bashing and its sometimes fatal consequences. Got issues with it? Sit at home and watch the 700 Club and leave the West Des Moines high school community alone. They're going to have enough grief when the Rev. Fred Phelps shows up with his merry band of freaks, and trust me, when it comes time to take a side, I hope you fall on the morally correct side of the fence.
Personally I hope the old man and his miscreants get their asses kicked, Iowa style.

My cousin lived in Ankeny over 30 years. I visited her there as often as I could. My impression is that Supporter is much more typical of Iowans than the other poster. "Live and let live" is a very highly valued motto in Iowa. When Harold Hill, in "The Music Man," asks the undertaker, "What do you do here for excitement?" he answers, "Mind our business." That means mind his own business and keep his nose out of others'. Meredith Willson knew Iowa, his home state--and lived many years in San Francisco, working for NBC, before his great fame on Broadway. Ruined Mirador, I suspect you will get your wish!

I just (Nov. 2006) Direct/produced a production of
The Laramie Project in Bloomfield, NJ. We took out most of the "Bad" language. Did not effect the impact of the piece and did not allow for that kind of complaint. Feed back exellent and incredible experience for students.

I'm a high school freshman, and I'm auditioning for the drama club's production of the Laramie Project next week. We're braced for some controversy over the subject matter and language, but it's my personal belief (and yes, my parents are with me on this one) that it's incredibly important for people my age to be exposed to issues like this, and it's equally important that we don't sugar-coat them by leaving out the parts that some people deem objectionable. As far as the language goes, I promise you that there is nothing in there that your kid hasn't heard/said.

As far as this director 'rallying' the students, all I can say is good for her! It takes a truly empowering person to inspire my peers to care about anything important. Take it from someone who knows the feeling firsthand- these people must be strong, spirited, and brave to stand for what they know is right. I can understand that the Des Moines parents only want to shelter their children from harm and so-called 'immorality,' but please, stop and think. Wouldn't you rather that your child was exposed to these things in the safety of a theatre, through an eloquent and moving play, instead of running into them in the real world and being completely unprepared?
Get a grip, people. You do your children no favors by sheltering them, you will only drive them away from you. And to the ignorant individual who is saying that Matthew Shepherd died because of 'drugs, disease, and dispair'(learn to spell, for one)-- where are you getting this? If someone beat you to death for being a bigot, I suppose that would also be correlated to drugs, disease, and dispair.

To the students and their director, thank you for fighting! I'm with you in spirit!

This is a postscript written on 9-13-07.
I want people to realize that Reike Plecas is not representative of the people who live in West Des Moines.
He has run for school board each of the past 2 years. In '06 he ran as a write in candidate and received less than 5% of the vote. In '07 there were 4 candidates for 3 seats. Reike only received 800 votes compared to the others who received at least 1200 votes.
Thanks to Reike and others like him, the Laramie Project was a great success. They sold out all 3 scheduled shows, and had to add a 4th.
This show made such an impression on all the students in the cast that many of them have stated that this will be the most fullfilling experience in their lives.
Many people went to the show because of the controversy. But, they found that it was a very good production that was well acted.
If you are interested in a very good high school production, please come see Ms. Hansons production of "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" that will be performed in October.

Gwen:

I did not see your post before I wrote mine.

To clarify one very important item, The drama teacher did not "rally" the students againts anyone. She is probably the most respected teacher at our school. Her department has won the state drama award for the past 2 years.

If you would like to talk to any of the cast members from our production, please leave a posting with the name of your school so that I can contact your drama teacher.

Good luck with your production! It will be a life changing experience.

The platform is set,all the best to you.
check out www.whois-brack-obama.com

REIKE PLECAS wrote:

<quoted text>
The fact remains: bad things happen to bad people! It is a shame that Mr. Sheperd lost his life not only to: drugs, disease and dispare. What we need to lift up is the positive impact his life could have if we use it as a poster against drug and alcohol use, or safe sex. I hope that we as educators and friends can gage war on all crimes! Peace my friend, and the next time you visit Iowa look me up!

"A shame"? Grow a soul you self-righteous, condescending cow.

Of all the unmitigated gall - what killed him was being attacked by two men and left to die.

You're an educator? I pity the students who have to somehow learn from you.

REIKE PLECAS wrote:

<quoted text>
The fact remains: bad things happen to bad people! It is a shame that Mr. Sheperd lost his life not only to: drugs, disease and dispare. What we need to lift up is the positive impact his life could have if we use it as a poster against drug and alcohol use, or safe sex. I hope that we as educators and friends can gage war on all crimes! Peace my friend, and the next time you visit Iowa look me up!

“Oh, and I've visited Iowa once or twice. Based on what I'm reading about the attitudes of the people who live there, it is doubtful I will ever go back!“

Ummmm...WHO is the narrow minded one? We do have almost 3,000,000 people, and although known as a conservative state, views are split nearly half and half. Iowa City is home to one of the top universities and liberal campuses in the nation. Des Moines and several other cities have an incredibly supportive GLBT community. Your opinions are your own and your right, but let's not encase a whole state, city or community as having the same opinion.

The Laramie Project a drug deal gone awry

Rob in NY wrote:

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Tolerant of what? Ignorance? The problem is that so many parents will oppose what is on the curriculum based on religion,,,, be it sex education, homosexuality and tolerance, diversity in religion... what have you. And they either demand that the subject they don't like be dropped, or altered to their liking..
But school is for learning about life, and the job of the school is to teach what society, by consensus of the professionals of all fields, deem true...
If you felt this was a powerful and moving script, I am curious as to why you would protest it?
The main factor that incited this crime was homophobia.. and teens of every state should be made aware of it, and how evil it is....(even if some parents don't like it...)

isn't every murder a hate crime

"isn't every murder a hate crime"???
That is a topic they mentioned in the movie version of The Laramie Project. Hate crimes legislation was enacted to give the most dangerous of criminals (those who attack based on unsubstantiated and irrational hate) as they are more likely to repeat offenses, as well as, to protect a minority group further from a majority of bigots and the ignorant...like yourself.

media said that wrote:

isn't every murder a hate crime

No. Many murders occur with no emotional reasoning behind them at all, such as someone killing the attendant of a gas station or convenience store.

media said that wrote:

isn't every murder a hate crime

does every murder include beating the crap out of someone so severely the "death" is the result of being beaten so badly? for example having your brain disconnected from your brainstem? when someone is 'murdered' do they get their ankles crushed first?

I know that this is very old to start with. Yet, the oppression of anything that has to do with the "Laramie Project" should never exist.
Matt was someone I had met several times. He was a good kid, quiet, deep within himself.
His attackers were also envolved with another assult that evening. They had pistol whipped another individual for money. They were then in the bar that I am quite aware of. The attackers were drinking, assumed to be on drugs, what have you. They were aware that Matt was Gay. They didn't like it, they did what jerks do. Only they took it over the edge.
There is NOTHING wrong with the "Laramie Project" that each and every person shouldn't see it.
Open your eyes, clear your minds, see what is going on around you. There is nothing that can't be solved without openess and compassion for our neighbors.

Living in Laramie. 40 years old and standing up for what my daughter believed in. Because she can't be here to do it herself.

Ruined Mirador wrote:

My 8th Grade English teacher was stabbed to death in his apartment in Des Moines by a couple thugs he picked up (in the late 70s); my friend Joel Larson,(ex-Des Moines) was also stabbed to death in Minneapolis by a murdering gaybasher who now rots in jail.
So Mr. Plecas (or Miss, whatever you might be), please don't lecture those who would stand up to you and your midguided bigotry. I grew up in Iowa and happily fled for San Francisco in the early 1990s.
This has nothing to do with "language" at all. It's about exposing gay bashing and its sometimes fatal consequences. Got issues with it? Sit at home and watch the 700 Club and leave the West Des Moines high school community alone. They're going to have enough grief when the Rev. Fred Phelps shows up with his merry band of freaks, and trust me, when it comes time to take a side, I hope you fall on the morally correct side of the fence.
Personally I hope the old man and his miscreants get their asses kicked, Iowa style.

I agree with you. However, our friend Joel Larson was shot to death, not stabbed, and his murderer was/is a seriously conflicted, also gay man.