ABSTRACT
This essay provides a unique look into the cultural landscape of the Cowboy State by connecting considerations of land and nature to identity politics and current legislation. The climate for LGBTQ people has been defined by contradictions in Wyoming in the years since Matthew Shepard’s murder. The Wyoming Legislature still has not passed a nondiscrimination bill, despite numerous attempts. Paradoxically, a same-sex couple can get married but then fired when the wedding announcement is published in the local newspaper. Hancock helps us understand the complex ways in which the geographical, religious, cultural, and political landscapes coalesced in post-Shepard Wyoming and explain the state’s unwillingness to support the expansion of anti-hate crime laws.
