The morality issues of today have changed drastically from past generations. Back in earlier years issues such as a man kissing a woman openly on television was something to talk about. Rated PG movies only had scenes that left the viewer to take it further with their imaginations. Sexuality issues were not an everyday topic for conversations. In the past decade, issues such as homosexuality have been more and more prevalent these days. A new America has transpired: Gay America.
As more people "come out of the closet," issues such as what their rights are become the center point of discussion. In Wyoming, where Matthew Sheppard was murdered by two men posing as homosexuals, the mentality has drastically been affected by the ever changing acceptance of gays and lesbians.
Wyoming is one of the first states to deal with the "gay America." Five years ago, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney "got Matthew Sheppard into a truck, tied him to a fence outside Laramie, beat him into an unrecognizable shell and left him to die."(Cloud, 2003) What message were they sending out? They were showing what would happen if you "came out of the closet." Have things changed? If so, how?.
Many of the "quiet gay frontier of Wyoming" are becoming bolder day by day. As time progresses, Wyoming residents are learning to live together. Several politicians are coming out publicly, others are embracing the new gay America. In Cody, Wyoming, a national gay-straight alliance, the Republican Unity Coalition, was founded two years ago. Or visit Laramie, Wyoming, where it's the only town in the state that is home to a four year university where it houses one of the most vibrant gay college groups in the West.
But even though it is a concept that is gradually being embraced, it still is an issue that has its boundaries. Nightlife does not offer much for the gays and lesbians. Wyoming is thought to be the only state that does not have a gay bar.