The Laramie Project: Act 1: Easier said than done Summary & Analysis

The narrator introduces Catherine Connolly, who calls herself the first “out” lesbian faculty member at the University of Wyoming. Catherine says she came out during her job interview when asked what her nonexistent husband did. Catherine goes on to talk about how, when she first started at the University, she received a call from an anonymous woman who told Catherine that she was also a lesbian, and wanted to meet her, and that she knew other lesbians who were in the closet who would be afraid to be seen with Catherine.

The narrator then introduces Jonas Slonaker, a gay man who moved to Laramie because he loves Wyoming. He talks about how when he would go to gay bars, men from Wyoming would ask how he can live there, since they found it so difficult. Occasionally, though, Jonas says someone would talk about how much they missed Laramie and wanted to move back. Jonas begins to imagine how things might be different if more gay people stayed in rural towns, but then states that this would be “easier said than done.”