Fred Phelps loses again. The anti-gay pastor recently raised another bid to erect a monument celebrating Matthew Shepard's grizzly 1998 murder.

Phelps had his eye on Casper, Wyoming's monument plaza, which includes granite engravings of the Constitution, Magna Carta and other documents dedicated to freedom - something Phelps knows nothing about. Rejecting Phelps' claim, Casper Mayor Kate Sarosy wrote:

Your monument is simply religious in character, based on your personal religious beliefs regarding Matthew Shepard, and bears no historical significance to the foundation of the law for our country. As such, the city cannot place your monument on city property without violating the establishment clause of the United States Constitution.

Phelps, meanwhile, comforted himself with delusions of Casper's sulfur and brimstone end: "The end is coming, and it will be cataclysmic. I don't expect to save Casper." We're sure Casper and its citizens are heart broken…

If we were to play a word association game with “gay” and “Wyoming,” most people would respond with “Matthew Shepard.” Wondering about the Equality State's (heh) own image, The Jackson-Hole Star Tribune poked and prodded its citizens, asking them what they thought of the Wyoming-set Brokeback Mountain and its cowboys. They came across this little firebrand, a Ms. Sandy Dixon.

A lifelong Wyomingite, Dixon said she has never encountered a gay cowboy, and doesn't think it's right for (author) Proulx and Hollywood to portray Wyoming as a state with gay cowboys.

She added, “There's nothing better than plain old cowboys and the plain old history without embellishing it to suit everyone.”

Regarding the reaction of Wyoming people to the film, Dixon said it depends on the viewer: “Those that want to make a queer story out of it, they will, and those that know real cowboys will say it's all hogwash.”

Her comments make less sense when you find out she’s a playwright no less. Next she’ll say she’s never encountered a queer actor. Nah, even that one she's gotta believe.