The story follows the lives of two young men who meet in the summer of 1963 while herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming and unexpectedly fall in love. Denying their deep desire for each other, the two part and try to lead heterosexual lives by marrying women and raising children, only meeting each other for occasional 'fishing trips' every few years. The complications, joys and heartbreak of their forced bi-sexual lives in the socially repressed environments of Wyoming and Texas in the 1960s and 1970s provides a powerful testament to the endurance of love.