Laramie’s First “Queer”fest

Paul Derengowski, ThM

That’s right. In little ol’ Laramie, Wyoming, the “queers” are celebrating with pride. No longer will Laramie be simply known as the “Gem City” or Home of the Cowboys. Now it can fly the rainbow flag and be recognized as an official sponsor of queerdom.

As reported by the LaramieLive site, the festivities began last night (June 22) at the Albany County Library. Just how raucous can an event be than to schedule it at a library? Why, the energy level had to have been extraordinary, perhaps exceeding the transformation from a Wyoming Winter to Spring.

Creator and promoter of the event, Robert West, claimed, “People are really happy about this and looking forward to having this in their own community of Laramie.”

Why, of course they are. Who wouldn’t want a bunch of guys dressed up as women invading the public library to tell stories to all the little children and a few excited individuals wanting to take one of queens home for the evening? According to the itinerary, the Laramie Dragonettes would commence the storytelling at 6:00 p.m.

Please note, the mascot of Laramie High School is the Plainsman and the University of Wyoming is the Cowboys. The Legion baseball team is known as the Rangers. So, as you can probably imagine, the Dragonettes has nothing to do with the sporting type, unless they are all named Lola.

Also on the schedule would be a dance party, a potluck dinner, and to top it all off, a candlelight vigil for Matthew Shepard. No one in Laramie gets more posthumous abuse from the “gay” community than Shepard. Not only was his murder a tragedy, the homosexuals constantly bring him up as some kind of martyr for their cause, even though his death had nothing to do with him making a stance for homosexuality.

So, while he was alive, he abused himself through drug usage and now in death the “queers” abuse him through misrepresentation. If Matthew was capable of commenting on all of the abuse taking place in his name, he would definitely say “Stop it! You’re lying about me and the wonders of what I thought about sex and drugs. I am so miserable in this flame. God, please change their minds and don’t let them come here!” and yet to no avail.

What is equally “queer” about this first-time event is that apparently someone at the library “reached out” to the queers and asked them to bring their stories to the library. Did the library official receive approval from the general, taxpaying public to make such an invitation? If so, then why was that not reported? If not, is it now time for a library official to be seeking gainful employment elsewhere?

LaramieLive reporter, Sarah Teeter goes on to write, “West said the goal of the pridefest is to create a space for the LGBTQ community in Laramie to come together and celebrate and also to welcome the general Laramie community to join.” So, now the public library is the designated “space” for all the “queers” to congregate? Again, has the Laramie community approved of such a “goal”? And what exactly is the general Laramie community supposed to join in on? Sanctioning what amounts to the abominable at its own high cost? Neither Teeter, nor West explain.

West shared a second goal by stating, “The number two thing is to also incorporate the broader Laramie community into that and say ‘queer people are here, they exist here, and we want you to be a part of that.” Aside from what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, that is it an abomination (Lev. 18:22) and a damnable sin (1 Cor. 6:9), to be “queer” is equivalent to being very odd; abnormal, anomalous, atypical, bizarre, crazy, demented, dubious, erratic, flaky, freaky, irrational, irregular, kinky, kooky, mad, unbalanced, unnatural, wacky and just plain weird, to list a few of Roget’s synonyms.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to “be a part” of such a “goal”? Unless, of course, that person is as “kooky” as those accepting Mr. West’s invitation.  And that being the case, why not just make it a “goal” to step in front of a speeding train? It will not be as painful, all pretentiousness will be mitigated, and the results will be the same.

One truly exceptional thing about Queerfest Laramie 2017 is that it will end tomorrow (June 24). Sadly, in the wake of all the festivities, all kinds of vitriol has coming spewing forth from the keyboards of those who cannot stand anyone taking their endorsement of such an event to its logical conclusion. Vitriol that some think will lead to the silencing of those judged to be too brazen, unloving, non-compassionate, bigoted, intolerant, and un-Christian to be even asking. Vitriol that will be exposed for what it is in upcoming blog articles.

But, until then, let it be known that tiny Laramie, Wyoming has hit the big time. The “queers” now have their festival, the citizens of Laramie have given them their blessing, and the horses, sheep, and cattle are absolutely terrified.

About the Author

Paul Derengowski, Ph.D.
Founder of the Christian Apologetics Project PhD, Theology with Dogmatics, North-West University (2018); MA Apologetics with Honors, BIOLA University (2007); ThM, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2003); MDiv, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2000); BA Pastoral Ministry & Bible, Baptist Bible College (1992)