Prejudice

The theme of prejudice is an undercurrent in The Laramie Project. Prejudice can be related to class, education, economics, religion, or sexual preference. When one person rigidly believes in one side of a concept and cannot perceive the other side and, more importantly, will not tolerate others' acceptance of the other side, prejudice rears its head. In this play, the town deals with varying levels of prejudice. Some of the characters represent the extremes, such as the Reverend Fred Phelps, who believes so deeply that homosexuality is wrong that he preaches that God Himself has hate. Other characters are less stridently prejudiced, such as the parents of Jedadiah Schultz, who refused to go to Jedadiah's scholarship audition because their son was acting out a scene that involves homosexuality. They missed the opportunity to share in their son's important moment, but their prejudice, at least in this one act...