April FREEDOM WATCH Online

This time, the play was also about a different community: Colorado Springs and the progress we have made toward tolerance and acceptance. How would our city, which gave birth to the anti-gay Amendment 2 and helped Colorado earn the title "hate state," react to a public school producing a play about homophobia and intolerance?

Ms. Vogel had tried to put the play into production in 2005 and was met with the familiar road blocks. Because the play was so controversial, Vogel ran into resistance with both the principal and the school board. Things were going along smoothly for production when Vogel got wind that her new principal wanted to see her about the play, "Mind you," says Vogel, "in 20 years I had never even discussed my production choices with administration (except in 2005) and I had produced much more controversial plays than The Laramie Project including The Shadow Box, which I had produced in 2006."

In one week the resistance began. Vogel was told that the principal needed to ask permission from his boss to be able to give the go ahead to put the play into production. She was also told that she had to put the play through the district's book approval process. Vogel said she would be happy to go through the book approval process, "as long as every piece of dramatic literature used in the classroom and in productions for the entire district went through the same process. This was not a good way to stop me."

"I decided to fight for this one!" says Vogel. When asked about her reasoning for fighting so hard to put this play into production, she replied, "The major problem was the reasons they gave me not to do the play. It was censorship and they called it everything but that. They threw policies at me that didn't exist. This battle was for all theater teachers. They were trying to judge a play based on hearsay, and they were trying to create a rule based on one play that did not include any other play ever produced."

Even with the major roadblocks, Vogel was able to finally convince the administration, and The Laramie Project was put into production in the fall of 2008. Because the play was labeled as "controversial," it created much more attention than it normally would have gotten. Ironically, instead of a flood of angry calls from religious conservatives protesting the play, Vogel and her theater students got nothing but support from the community.

Many LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender) organizations joined together and brought meals for everyone involved in the play during late night rehearsals. These organizations include: All Souls Universalist Church, The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, The Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival, Reverend Wes Mullins and Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church. In addition, the Men's Outloud Chorus donated their time and energy to perform two songs during the play.

Many people wrote letters of thanks. One letter came from a former student at Wasson High School saying he was proud to come to the play because he could have never come out as gay while he was in school there.

Another alumna from Wasson donated $1,000 to match the grant support from the Bee Vradenburg Foundation. She lived in Spain and flew back to Colorado Springs just to see the play.

The audience at the play showed, "so much support, so much love and kudos. I'm still receiving letters and emails from people who were moved by the production. Many people just really thought that our students were very brave for doing the production. The students were in the process for so long that they were willing to stand strong and deliver the play to the best of their ability," says Vogel.

The administration's reaction was surprising. As Vogel stated, "I got great feedback. The superintendent actually came up to me, shook my hand and told me that he thought it was a great show. The administration had to sit through it three times, so I'm not sure how they felt. I think they were relieved that nothing negative happened."

The Laramie Project is about tragedy and transformation. For those who lamented our own city's reputation as intolerant and, like Nancy Vogel and her students, worked tirelessly to promote acceptance and equal rights, the play revealed our local transformation as well.

Most importantly the kids at Wasson who fought for and put on the play had a positive experience from The Laramie Project. As Vogel puts it, "They got to be famous celebrities for a month or so and they got to participate in one of the most powerful and rewarding plays ever written. Fairy tale ending!"