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Act 2: Two Queers and a Catholic Priest
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Laramie Project, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Homophobia, Tolerance, and Acceptance
Violence, Punishment, and Justice
Media and Community
Religion, Morality, and Prejudice
Theater and Representation
Summary
Analysis
An inmate named Andrew Gomez, who was in prison with Aaron McKinney, talks about how he and Aaron ate their Christmas dinners together. Andrew asked Aaron why he killed Matthew Shepard knowing he would likely be caught and sexually assaulted in prison. Aaron told Andrew that Matthew made a pass at him. According to Andrew, other inmates are auctioning off the chance to assault Aaron when he arrives at the maximum security ward.
In this section, inmate Andrew Gomez implies that Aaron McKinney would likely be sexually assaulted in prison, and so would non-consensually endure the same kinds of sex acts that he hated Matthew for. This section seems to be implying that violence like Matthew’s murder can engender further violence.
Themes
