Previous
Dr. Cantway
Jonas Slonaker is a Laramie resident and an openly gay man. Jonas is horrified by Matthew Shepard’s murder and he believes that it reveals deep-seated bigotry in Laramie. Jonas feels that the Wyoming axiom of “live and let live,” although seemingly tolerant, is actually a way for Wyoming residents to mask and avoid confronting their homophobia. A year after Matthew’s murder, Jonas still feels frustrated by what he sees as a complete lack of systemic progress, particularly because of the lack of newly-passed anti-discrimination legislation.
Jonas Slonaker Quotes in The Laramie Project
The The Laramie Project quotes below are all either spoken by Jonas Slonaker or refer to Jonas Slonaker. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2: Live and Let Live Quotes
And it’s even in some of the Western literature, you know, live and let live. That is such crap. I tell my friends that—even my gay friends bring it up sometimes. I’m like, “That is crap, you know?” I mean basically what it boils down to: If I don’t tell you I’m a fag, you won’t beat the crap out of me. I mean, what’s so great about that?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3: Epilogue Quotes
Change is not an easy thing, and I don’t think people were up to it here… it’s been a year since Matthew Shepard died, and they haven’t passed shit in Wyoming…at a state level, any town, nobody anywhere, has passed any kind of laws, anti-discrimination laws or hate crime legislation… What’s come out of it…that’s concrete or lasting?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Laramie Project LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jonas Slonaker Quotes in The Laramie Project
The The Laramie Project quotes below are all either spoken by Jonas Slonaker or refer to Jonas Slonaker. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2: Live and Let Live Quotes
And it’s even in some of the Western literature, you know, live and let live. That is such crap. I tell my friends that—even my gay friends bring it up sometimes. I’m like, “That is crap, you know?” I mean basically what it boils down to: If I don’t tell you I’m a fag, you won’t beat the crap out of me. I mean, what’s so great about that?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3: Epilogue Quotes
Change is not an easy thing, and I don’t think people were up to it here… it’s been a year since Matthew Shepard died, and they haven’t passed shit in Wyoming…at a state level, any town, nobody anywhere, has passed any kind of laws, anti-discrimination laws or hate crime legislation… What’s come out of it…that’s concrete or lasting?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
