Carl Oleson, left, with his partner, Rob Johnston. “I still have to be a little bit discreet,” Mr. Oleson said.
By Jack Healy
June 30, 2013
LARAMIE, Wyo. — For State Representative Cathy Connolly, Wyoming’s only openly gay legislator, this winter brought a rare moment of promise: her bill to create domestic partnerships advanced further than anything like it in the history of this deep red state — sailing through committee and onto the floor of the full House. Victory seemed possible. But when a crucial vote came, the bill failed.
State Representative Cathy Connolly at home in Laramie. A domestic-partnership bill she introduced saw early success but was ultimately defeated.
Afterward, a colleague who had voted against the measure hugged Ms. Connolly, a Democrat from Laramie, and told her that it was nothing personal. “I had to say, ‘Yes it is,’ ” Ms. Connolly said, recalling the conversation several months later.
Being gay in Wyoming, known as the Equality State, has never been simple, and last week’s Supreme Court rulings, hailed as a victory for same-sex marriage, did little to change that. While many gay couples here cheered the decisions, they also said they woke up the next morning not feeling much more equal than they had the day before.
“It’s remarkably frustrating,” said Carl Oleson, who lives with his partner of 16 years, Rob Johnston, in Casper, near the center of Wyoming’s oil and gas boom. “There are no protections here. None.”
Nationwide, the movement to legalize same-sex marriage may be bolstered by court rulings, growing political support and shifting public opinion. But for gay couples who live in the conservative rural heartland, like Mr. Oleson and Mr. Johnston, any changes in the landscape feel as slow as the upwelling of mountain ranges.
Like 36 other states, Wyoming limits marriage to a man and a woman. State lawmakers have voted down attempts to include gay and transgender people in Wyoming’s antidiscrimination laws. There are no hate-crime laws on the books, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group.
"Fear Eats the Soul"
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