September 13th 2023 Queer Voices

Have you ever wondered what it takes to make history and inspire a community? Join us for a fascinating conversation with Harrison Guy, the first Black male grand marshal in the history of Houston's Pride celebrations. We dive into Guy's passion for the arts, his transformative journey to Rwanda, and how it influenced his artistic language and the creation of the Urban Souls Dance Company. We also venture into his newest production, Black Butterfly, which tells powerful stories from the LGBTQ community, based loosely on his own experiences.

Guest: Harrison Homer-Guy
http://urbansouls.org

Imagine being on the forefront of organizing events that embody Pride, art, and culture. That's exactly what our guest, Michael Greco, has done. From his role as a Grand Marshal in the Houston Gay Pride Parade to his upcoming Black Butterfly production and the Art of Black Pride exhibition, Greco is a force to be reckoned with. We also explore the humorous and yet profound Stages Repertory Theatre productions, 'The Legend of George McBride' and 'Drag Wonderettes' that challenge identity and gender norms, adding a refreshing take on classic narratives.

Guest: Michael Greco
https://stageshouston.com

Our journey does not stop there. We delve into the beautiful and evocative world of poetry, with works by Essex Hemphill, Pat Parker, and Aaron Shurin. Exploring themes of love, identity, and oppression, we see how these poets use their craft not only as a therapeutic tool but also as a powerful advocacy platform for LGBTQ rights. From National Poetry Month to Tokyo Rainbow Pride's return post-COVID, we traverse the significant narratives and challenges faced by the queer community worldwide. So, buckle up and join us as we amplify these inspiring and vital queer voices in our community.

Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:

https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/

Transcript

Glenn Holt: 0:08

And now Houston's only primetime radio program dedicated to news and concerns of the Lesbye, Gay and Transgender community. This is Queer Voices. This week, Aaron Coleman talks with Harrison Homer Guy about being named as the first Black male grand marshal in the 41 year history of Houston's Pride celebrations and his artistic participation in Black Pride weekend.

Harrison Homer Guy: 0:39

So I've always been very, very interested in the Black Pride weekend and what it does for the Black LGBTQ community. So once I became of age and moved to Houston I just have always been really active kind of that weekend and kind of the program and things that were happening that weekend. I've always wanted to see art and culture reflected more that weekend.

Glenn Holt: 0:58

Deborah has a conversation with Michael Greco about two LGBTQ themed plays about to run concurrently at Stages Theatre.

Michael Greco: 1:07

Stages has a pretty important and incredible history. With the franchise, we produced the original, the Marvelous Wonderettes, in 2010. It remains one of the longest running and highest grossest shows Stages has produced in its history, and since then we've produced all of the other sequels Winter Wonderettes, caps and Gowns and Dream On.

Glenn Holt: 1:29

Deborah and Aaron have cooked up something quite naughty and we have news wrap from this Way Out Queer Voices starts now.

Aaron Coleman: 1:43

I'm Aaron Coleman. Today we're talking with Harrison Guy, the director of Urban Souls Dance Company and an appointee to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's LGBTQ advisory board. Harrison welcome.

Harrison Homer Guy: 2:00

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Aaron Coleman: 2:03

You know, you and I go back to when Urban Souls was a fledgling company and now it's nationally known. Can you tell us about the journey?

Harrison Homer Guy: 2:11

Sure, your. Next year the company will be 20 years old, and so the company started in 2004,. I launched the company as a solo work, myself performing at a festival here in Houston called Dance Houston so that's how I launched the name and launched the company to the city, and I started hosting just a free dance class every Sunday. That eventually turned into Urban Souls, and so we've been around since 2004.

Aaron Coleman: 2:38

How many members do you have in the company?

Harrison Homer Guy: 2:41

Right now we have about 12 dancers.

Aaron Coleman: 2:44

I heard that you have a new production, black Butterfly at Match on May 5th celebrating Black Pride Week. Talk about how that came to be and the tale you're telling.

Harrison Homer Guy: 2:59

I have always been active and have been attending Black Pride in Houston since I was in high school.

Harrison Homer Guy: 3:04

I'm from LaMark, so Black Pride is usually held on the first Sunday in May at Gallifersons, called Splash, and so because I'm from that area, everyone where I'm from knows about Splash.

Harrison Homer Guy: 3:16

So I've always been very, very interested in the Black Pride weekend and what it does for the Black LGBTQ community. So I've always been very, very interested in the Black Pride weekend and what it does for the Black LGBTQ community. So once I became of age and moved to Houston, I just have always been really active kind of that weekend and kind of the programming and things that were happening that weekend, and I've always wanted to see art and culture reflected more that weekend. And so I've always wanted to do more art and cultural things. And so this year I started last year with just collaborating with something that, coincidentally, was already happening on that weekend, but I knew that this year I wanted to produce some of my own things. So I'm actually doing two things this weekend this Black Pride weekend, which is Black Butterfly, which you talked about, which is a dance theater production at Match, and I'm also doing the Art of Pride, which is an art exhibition for visual artists.

Aaron Coleman: 4:08

I read that you took a trip to Rwanda. What did that do for you as an artist and as a gay Black man?

Harrison Homer Guy: 4:18

So it's so interesting to talk about Rwanda today because last night I just saw the Vyani dance theater here in Houston and they are actually from South Africa, so we talked a lot about what I did in Rwanda with some of those cast members last night and so, yeah, so going to Rwanda, so I have a piece that we do in the company called Across the Waters and it's about the Rwanda Genocide. So we ended up creating a work and doing a lot of research about the people of Rwanda and I was just really interested in going there to meet the people and to see the museum that they have that talks about the genocides. And so going there for me was very educational, connecting to that piece, but it also allowed me to teach class and to connect with another dance company and a theater company there. It meant a lot to me. It really did change the way that I thought about producing work and creating work.

Harrison Homer Guy: 5:06

I've always been a person whose art is Black-centered, but I learned from going to Rwanda that it was still kind of filtered through a lens of whiteness in some ways, because you're kind of playing to the nonprofit to get funded and you're using language that you don't want to offend, and so, even with my version of pro-Blackness and being Black-centered, I learned in Rwanda that it really was still being filtered. That was a purity that I felt was missing. So for me, it really pushed me to not do that anymore and to think about how I can be true to what I wanted to do and those that it was for it would be for. So it really affirmed for me that what I was doing was enough and that I should language it in a way that felt comfortable for me and not one that was going to play to any gatekeepers or anything like that. It was a profound transformational experience for me.

Aaron Coleman: 6:00

Is Black Butterfly. Is that autobiographical?

Harrison Homer Guy: 6:04

Kind of sort of. So I think what's interesting about our community is that we have a lot of similar stories, and so you'll say this happened to me and everyone will say, yep, it happened to me too. So it's kind of autobiographical, but it's also inspired by just stories in our community. So it's a little loose, but it is the impetus for it was the fact that I like to say the title is Black Butterfly.

Harrison Homer Guy: 6:28

This is not a sad story, because I think that we focus a lot on trauma in our community, and that is true that living at the intersection of both black and queer in America is a very traumatic experience, especially in Texas.

Harrison Homer Guy: 6:43

But I also think that sometimes we speak about that so much that we don't give enough credit to those positive experiences. And so Black Butterfly really talks about the people who gives us wings. And so in my life, certainly from a young little gayling all the way until a much older gayling, I've had lots of people that were just supportive and they just got it and they just really wanted to protect and support me and really gave me wings, and so I wanted to give a tribute to the people that got it right, because we don't see that as often, I think they're right now, because the need is so great. We feel like we have to be activists and we have to put these kind of stories on stage to teach people and to fight, and at some point I think I just got kind of tired of fighting. Not that I'll stop fighting, but I would love to just take a break for this show and to do something that's a little more positive.

Aaron Coleman: 7:32

And how do you do that? Through dance.

Harrison Homer Guy: 7:36

I would say I'm probably wise enough to know that sometimes stories are hard to follow with dance, especially when they haven't been told a lot. So I think a Black queer story that you haven't seen on stage a lot needs a little context, and so luckily I have John Nicholas, who is an amazing poet and man of words, who is going to kind of narrate us through and be the thread through the pieces. So the pieces aren't relying on just dance to tell the story, and that's very helpful. And so he's created these incredible vignettes before each dance. That really threads the piece.

Aaron Coleman: 8:10

When you won an award from the Society of Performing Arts for Colored Carnegie. Please inform us about that.

Harrison Homer Guy: 8:18

Man, we are on such the same wavelength. I literally wore my color Carnegie t-shirt last night at the show that I went to. So we are on the same wavelength there. So color Carnegie. So I am just obsessed with local history and I'm super obsessed with local Black history and super duper obsessed with local Black LGBTQ history. So a lot of my works are historical, and so color Carnegie was the first library that Black people came together to make sure that they had a space where they could read, because they were turned away from the Houston Lyceum and so they couldn't go to the public library and read books.

Harrison Homer Guy: 8:53

And so they got money from Carnegie to basically build their own library. And this happened in a lot of cities in the United States, specifically in the South. A lot of cities had colored Carnegie libraries, so what was amazing about the one in Houston is that they petitioned for the city not to run it. The board was completely Black, and so at that time, for Black people to say, yes, we want the grant, but also we don't want the city to run our library, we're going to run it ourselves. And so all of these incredible teachers and educators and philosophers came together and they were the board that governed the library. So it's such a Houston story and I wanted to tell it on stage and so I applied for that grant, which the Society of Performing Arts was picked to do that. And I knew that the story was special and it needed to be on a really, really beautiful stage, and so Jones Hall was like the perfect place to tell that story.

Aaron Coleman: 9:41

And won an award.

Harrison Homer Guy: 9:43

Yes, it was just. You know, they only picked four people for that commission and so I didn't know, because you never know right, and so I didn't know. I'm interested in these things, I think they're phenomenal and I get excited about history. But sometimes you know, people like you know, people are looking for entertainment, right, for entertainment sake, so they're just looking for different things to put. So I just didn't know if it would be as special to everyone. So I was so happy that it got picked. But also, just the commentary, there was a talk back where people were just I'm going home to Google this and this is so inspiring, and on and on and on about how the story taught them. You know, and it's a great way to think about teaching history, especially as we think about book bands and things like that. I mean, you know, telling these stories on stage is just another way. You know, you could certainly read a book about these, these stories, but to see it on stage is just another way that we can take our history into our own hands.

Aaron Coleman: 10:32

Can you talk about your work with the advisory board the LGBTQ advisory board? That them asked.

Harrison Homer Guy: 10:41

Yes, so I'm no longer on the board. I transitioned off. I served my time. Not to sound like I served my time, but I did. I did serve my time on the board and it was really incredible and so what?

Harrison Homer Guy: 10:52

I was one of the founding members, I was part of the first group and then went on to be the chair, co-chaired it and then chaired it on my own, and my time with the mayor's board was so instructive about the community and and how the community works and and I had a lot of talks with the mayor at the time that I was on a board just about how that was this centralization of what it meant to be LGBTQ in Houston, and people had kind of crowned these small group of people as the leaders of our community and we were missing out on a lot of voices.

Harrison Homer Guy: 11:21

So my main concern at that time was really to bring a lot of new voices to the table and to make sure that, before I left, that they, their voices, were being heard, and so I was I'm so excited about.

Harrison Homer Guy: 11:33

You know a lot of people look at the board and say, well, it's not doing a whole lot. And you know it's a board like boards and commissions aren't, you know, publicizing everything that they do. It's just it's another board and commission right, the work that they do is really behind the scenes in support of the mayor and really trying to get you know different things done that no one cares about. But I will say that, you know, I'm very happy that the makeup of the board is all these new people, new voices, new Houstonians that would never have been on the board. But I push to change the leadership and push to change kind of that centralization that says these are our leaders and they are and they've done a great job up to this point. But I think we can all agree that times are changing, things are different and as the city changes, so should our leadership you've been a grand marshal in the Houston Gay Pride, haven't you?

Harrison Homer Guy: 12:20

I have.

Harrison Homer Guy: 12:21

Let me tell you there, I, everyone, should get a chance to just not only be in the parade but just be grand marshal is such a honor.

Harrison Homer Guy: 12:29

And nomination is the honor right, because that means that people are looking at you, they see your work, you know. I mean, you have to kind of do a whole campaign to get people to vote for you, which is a little odd and awkward, I will admit. But the nominating process is what really brought me to tears, because it's like someone thought of me enough to say your work, your, the work that you do is seen, it's felt, it's heard and it's important, and so that was a true honor for me. And then when I learned because I was going through the list of all the nominee, of all the people who've won before, and I kind of noticed that there was never a black man, and when I learned that I would be the first black man to be grand marshal, it was like historical and it was already sweet, but that just put the more sugar on it, right, that made it super sweet, yeah, and so it's an honor that I will cherish forever you wear so many hats.

Aaron Coleman: 13:15

Is there a hat that you that you'd like to talk about?

Harrison Homer Guy: 13:20

no, I mean, this is pretty much it. You know, I'm at the intersection of like art, community building and LGBTQ activism. That's, those are the seats that I kind of sit at now, take on any kind of like opportunity that I can in those spaces. So I'm really grateful to be able to, you know, to sit in these places and use, you know, my leadership and use my creativity to try to move the needle forward in all these spaces. But right now, yeah, I'm pretty much focused on black pride and the two daunting task of putting a big new dance show on stage and doing a huge art exhibition. The exhibition that I'm putting on is about 30 black LGBTQ artists coming together to fill a two-story building downtown that used to be a forever 21 with art and culture, and I'm so excited about the art exhibition as well. I'm new to the curation space of visual art, but I'm super excited about the opportunity to give these artists an opportunity to shine well, can you give us the deets again about black butterflies, so that they go?

Harrison Homer Guy: 14:17

up. Absolutely, you got to be there. It's Friday May 5th, so it's on Cinco de Mayo, so you can add this into your what you're doing on that day, because I'm expecting this to be an incredible Cinco de Mayo day, but it's Friday May 5th at 8 pm. It's gonna be at match theater and let me tell you about this, this piece, because a lot of people, every time I do a piece that's queer inspired I. It's really this mosaic of all these things. So there's some major red dancing, there's some ballet dancing, you know. Of course there's modern and contemporary, because that's my go-to, but there's also live music.

Harrison Homer Guy: 14:49

There's a PSU's choir is gonna be singing, so it is not to be missed, it is just a big mix of all black, queer kind of things that make you feel good, it's gonna be super, super exciting. So Friday, may 5th, at 8 pm, at match is gonna be black butterfly.

Harrison Homer Guy: 15:05

Harrison, tell us about the art expo so the art of black pride is going to be at 1201 Main Street, which is the two-story building that used to be forever 21 over in the Green Street area, and we're super excited about it because it's gonna be from May 3rd is the opening. So May 3rd, that night, 7 pm, is the opening, but it's gonna run all the way until May 14th and from 11 to 7 every day. People can come and see all of this incredible art of black queer artists. But what is super amazing is we're gonna have several panels of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt in this exhibition. So this is not to be missed. Not only are you gonna see local artists black, queer, lgbtq we have a trans artist who has this amazing piece you gotta see but you're gonna see local black art as well as the National AIDS Memorial Quilt well.

Aaron Coleman: 16:02

Thank you so much for being on Queer Voices still to come.

Glenn Holt: 16:06

On Queer Voices, deborah has a conversation with Michael Greco about two LGBTQ themed plays about to run concurrently at stages theater and something naughty from Aaron Coleman and Deborah Bell. This is Glenn from Queer Voices. You're listening to KPFT. That means you're already participating just by listening, but how about doing more? Kpft is totally listener funded, which means it's people like you who are making donations who support this community resource. Kpft has no corporate or government strings attached funding, which means we're free to program responsibly but without outside influence. Will you participate in KPFT financially? This station needs everyone who listens to chip in a few dollars to keep the station going, because that's the way it works. Even if you're listening over the internet on another continent, you can still contribute. Please become an active member of the listener community by making a tax deductible contribution. Please take a minute to visit kpf torg and click on the red donate now button.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 17:21

Thank you this is Deborah Montcree Bell, and today we're talking with Mitchell Greco, associate artistic director for stages, about two new plays. Well, they're not so new in a way, but they'll be new this year in this season at stages the legend of Georgia McBride and drag wonderettes. So, first of all, mitchell, what does an associate artistic director do?

Michael Greco: 17:53

An associate artistic director varies from company to company, but for stages I on the associates of Ken McLaughlin, who is the artistic director and our artistic leader. In my role I coordinate and help cast all the shows. I participate in season planning and help with season selection. I'm also the liaison to the various unions that we work with Actors, Equity USA, things like that. I run payroll, I write contracts, I do a little bit of everything to keep the business running, as well as direct one show a year.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 18:33

What is your background in theater?

Michael Greco: 18:36

I got my degree in musical theater from San Houston State University because I wanted to be a performer. I wanted to be. My dream was to dance across the country in a touring production of hairspray. That was you know. If you asked me at 18 what I wanted to do, that was it. I wanted to be a nicest kid in town. But I found out soon after I graduated. I spent I wanted to spend a year in Houston building my resume and saving money before moving to New York. I found in that year that I really actually didn't love performing. I sent an email to my college directing professor, ken McLaughlin, who is the artistic director of stages, asking if I could volunteer my time to assistant director to help with our gala, with the silent auction, anything, just so I can get some more things on my resume. And he said actually, we have a space for you to come on part-time to help with the development department. I turned into a full-time job. I turned into my now title, associate artistic director, and I've been here for 12 years.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 19:46

Theater in Houston has just exploded and it's so exciting and right now I can't think of anything more exciting or more timely than these two plays. Tell me a little bit about why these plays were chosen to perform in red.

Michael Greco: 20:09

They are timely, but they weren't timely at the time we chose them. We do our season planning about a year or a year and a half in advance. They were quite as much in the headlines as it is now, but they were chosen because there were incredible stories about incredible humans and an incredible art form, an ancient, incredible art form that is drag. That we thought would be fun for our community, our subscribers, our actors and artists involved in creating the productions to produce, and we thought they're two very different shows but they each illuminate a different kind of perspective on drag and what drag is, what it means to be a drag queen and a drag family. How does masculinity work within all of that? They're two very different looks using the same topic, two very different shows using the same topic to explore the topic of drag.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 21:05

In the legend of George R McBride. I mean, I just kind of love this story about that. There's this white cisgender man who is desperate to be the best Elvis impersonator possible and then something happens and he has to change his act. So what happens?

Michael Greco: 21:28

What happens is he's not a very successful Elvis impersonator, he's not making a whole lot of money. And his girlfriend? They find out at the beginning of the play that they're pregnant. It's time to either choose a different dream or make that dream come true. And so she accidentally assembles into the business of drag and becomes George McBride and is wildly successful. And you'll see how it all. You'll have to come and see how it all ends up, but it's it's a wild, wonderful time and an incredible play.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 22:01

The performers are do they come? Any of them come from a drag background.

Michael Greco: 22:07

I don't believe any of the actors do drag in their spare time or have. I can't speak for the actor who plays Ms Tracy. I'm not exactly sure if Sean has or not, but no, we do have Cameron Davis, who is the choreographer for George McBride. His drag persona is Carmina Vavra. It's been really wonderful having her in the room to not only choreograph the numbers but also help bring a level of authenticity to the production and what we're seeing on stage. What, what, what a drag show would look like.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 22:37

And this play is described as snappy zingers with dance worthy numbers. Wildly entertaining story that challenges identity and classic gender roles with extraordinary humor and depth, so that really does sound very interesting. I really look forward to seeing that drag wonderettes. I know there's a history with the wonderettes being at stages, but what happens with this one?

Michael Greco: 23:06

I'm excited about both of them. I'm a little biased because I'm directing drag wonderettes. I'm actually in rehearsals at this very moment. They're learning some incredible four part harmony. Right next door, stages has a pretty important and incredible history. With the franchise we produced the original, the Marvelous Wonderettes, in 2010. It remains one of the longest running and highest grossest shows stages has produced in its history and since then we've produced all the other sequels Winter Wonderettes, caps and Gowns and Dream On and the playwright, roger Bean, has become really close to Ken and the theater he's flown down for.

Michael Greco: 23:45

Whenever we Did His Life Could Be a Dream and Hockey Talk Laundry, which we were producing right before the pandemic hit. The way he tells it is he's. Over the years, he has gotten a lot of requests to do a drag version of the original show, but he wanted to do it thoughtfully and in a way that is not just the original story, but with drag queens or to make a joke about men and dresses. He wanted to explore this idea of what the original show explores, which is the power of friendship and the power of love and the power of a found community, brew music and do that through a drag lens, and so he's created this almost a show within a show.

Michael Greco: 24:23

In Drag Wonderettes there's the Drag Queen House, house of Amanda's, who are performing at an Elk's Lodge. This family of drag queens, the Amandaie as they're called, are putting on a production of the Marvelous Wonderettes, and so we see kind of a storyline that's happening in between the drag queens as we're watching the story of the Marvelous Wonderettes. It is such an amazing fun time. I cannot wait for folks to see it.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 24:48

And it has that great music from the 50s and 60s, songs like Stupid Cupid, lollipop and it's my Party and you get to be a whole new and newly Marvelous production. And I understand RuPaul has nothing on these queens.

Michael Greco: 25:10

That's right. Yes, it's all the hits that you know and love from the 50s and 60s. Mr Sandman, heat Wave it's my Party. The Lollipop, as you say, performed by drag queens. It is truly wild and fun.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 25:26

Stages is doing something quite a bit different than usual, which is the way that these plays are playing. I understand that you actually can see both of them on the same night if you have that kind of energy, so tell me what that looks like.

Michael Greco: 25:45

We're producing these two plays in rep, meaning that they share a similar scenic and lighting design. They share the same designer, so it's the same work, but elements are added for each show. So theoretically you could see a 7 pm performance of the Legend of George McBride, which runs about, I think, an hour and a half, and then grab a quick cocktail in the lobby and then come back for a 10 o'clock show of Drag Wunderettes all in the same evening.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 26:11

What do you think people will find most surprising from either of these plays?

Michael Greco: 26:16

When they see both, if they see both, how differently they tackle the subject of drag, and also how heartfelt they are. They're both very bunny but also very kind and sweet. It's pretty joyful to be experiencing these plays, and it's amazing to produce and help create plays that promote joy, especially around the gay and queer experience, which I think these plays do. So I think they would find it surprising in how uplifting they are.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 26:51

And there's a bit of consciousness raising going on. Is Stange's doing anything to address what is happening politically?

Michael Greco: 27:00

Especially with George McBride. We think the plays absolutely speak for themselves. We want to make sure that folks from far and wide can come and access the art in our buildings and we don't want anything to get in the way of that accessibility. I would say that these shows absolutely speak for themselves, and the values that are projected in the scripts themselves speak volumes.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 27:24

Is there anything that I didn't ask you about that you would like to share? No, I don't think so.

Michael Greco: 27:31

They start performances mid-May and run through July 2nd, so just in time for Pride Month. I think you covered mostly all of it.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 27:41

The Legend of George McBride starts May 5th through July 2nd. The Drag Wonderettes is May 19th through July 2nd. The Legend of George McBride, written by Matthew Lopez. Drag Wonderettes, roger Bean. We've been talking with Vichyl Graco, the Associate Artistic Director at Stages, and you're listening to Queer Voices. This is Deborah Moncreef Bell.

Glenn Holt: 28:11

This last segment on Queer Voices is going to be something quite different and not appropriate for all audiences. We have Aaron Coleman and Deborah Bell reading some poetry that is erotic and explicit. There are also explicit racial, sexual orientation and gender slurs. What follows may not be appropriate for younger or more sensitive audience members.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 28:39

This is Deborah Moncrief Bell, and April is National Poetry Month. Queer poets are rich from history. One of the first known poets was Sappho, who wrote letters to for and about her female lovers on the island of Lesbos thus the name Lesbians. And then we have many poets that came to prominence, and one of the best loved and best known is Walt Whitman, and I was delighted when I was able to tell my mother that her favorite poet was in fact a homosexual. And then we have people from the Harlem Renaissance. We have people today such as Juan Paloma, right here in Houston, jacqueline Shaw, robin Ringler and, of course, our favorite, aaron Coleman, who's going to join me today to read some of his original work, and then I have a point to share. So, aaron, why don't you start us off?

Aaron Coleman: 29:52

Hi everybody. This is called Like Yesterday. I'm only pretending to be asleep, but I'm watching you as you get up to relieve yourself. The light captures you in slices like cake, so delectable, there's no need for frosting. I can't tell which body part I favor. It's different on different days, but right now your thighs are winning Supple sinewy, lean yet muscular, telegraphing your maleness to receptors in my groin, causing my nature to arise and harden. I hope you hurry up in there, because suddenly I need you, like yesterday.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 30:47

And I think many people can relate to that, when you capture a glimpse of your lover and you realize desire, what else you got?

Aaron Coleman: 30:57

This one's called Nipple. Your breath is warm, moisture comes from your lips. My pulse quickens. Where is a mirror? I sure coming up red. Pay me no attention, I'm delirious. A static that you would bypass the obvious and head directly for Mount Vesuvius and its neighbor Etna. You're so close Inches away. I anticipate your teeth, but you may go softly instead. Wait, no, I can't stand it.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 31:40

So, aaron, who are your favorite poets, who really awakens you to poetry?

Aaron Coleman: 31:46

First off I probably would have to say Essex Hemphill. He was a collaborator with filmmaker Marlon Riggs. They both have passed on and Marlon wrote Black Is well. He had the film Black Is Black Ain't and Tongue's Untied. Essex Hemphill was right with him. I have a book of Essex works. This is from Essex Hemphill's book Ceremonies and the poem is Object Lessons.

Aaron Coleman: 32:25

If I am comfortable on a pedestal you are looking at, if I am indolent and content to lay here on my stomach, my determinations indulged in glistening in baby oil and sweat, if I want to be here, a pet to be touched, a toy, if I choose to be liked in this way, if I desire to be object, to be sexualized in this object way, I won, or two at a time, for a night, or a thousand days, for money or power, for awesome orgasms to be had to be coveted, for my own selfish wantonness, for the feeling of being pleasure, being touched. The pedestal was here, so I climbed up, I located myself, I appropriated this context. It was my fantasy, my desire to do so and lie here on my stomach. Why are you looking? What do you want to do about it?

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 33:41

I can see why you were drawn to that.

Aaron Coleman: 33:45

Here's another one the Occupied Territories. You are not to touch yourself in any way or be familiar with ecstasy. You are not to touch anyone of your own sex or outside of your race. Then talk about it, photograph it, write it down in explicit details, or paint it red, orange, blue or dance in honor of its power, dance for its beauty, dance because it's yours. You are not to touch other flesh without a police permit. You have no privacy. The state wants to seize your bed and sleep with you. The state wants to control your sexuality, your birth rate, your passion. The message is clear your penis, your vagina, your testicles, your womb, your anus, your orgasm, these belong to the state. You are not to touch yourself or be familiar with ecstasy. The origin of zones are not demilitarized.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 34:58

That is a very timely point today, isn't it? And it really speaks to what is going on in Austin right now and the threat that so many are under by the state. So thank you for sharing that. I'm going to share one now, and this is by Pat Parker, who was born in Galveston, texas, and of course most people that are aware of her know that she died way too young.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 35:35

My lover is a woman, and when I hold her, feel her warmth, I feel good, feel safe them. I never think of my family's fat voices. Never hear my sisters say bulldagger's queers, funny, come see us, but don't bring your friends. It's okay with us, but don't tell mama, it would break her heart. Never feel my father turn in his grave. Never hear my mother cry Lord, what kind of child is this? My lover's hair is blonde and when it rubs across my face it feels soft, feels like a thousand fingers touch my skin and hold me and I feel good. Then I never think of the little boy who spat and called me nigger. Never thought of the policeman who kicked my body and said crawl. Never think of black bodies hanging in trees or filled with bullet holes. Never hear my sisters say white folks hair stinks. Don't trust any of them. Never feel my father turn in his grave. Never hear my mother talk of her back aid after scrubbing floors. Never heard her cry Lord, what kind of child is this?

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 37:03

My lover's eyes are blue and when she looks at me I float in a warm lake, feel my muscles go weak with one, feel good, Feel safe. Then I never think of the blue eyes that have glared at me. Move three stools away from me in a bar. Never hear my sisters rage of syphilipic black men and guinea pigs, rage of sterilized children. Watch them. Just stop in an intersection to stare the old white bitch. Never feel my father turn in his grave.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 37:43

Never remember my mother teaching me the yes sirs and mims to keep me alive. Never hear my mother's cry Lord, what kind of child is this? And when we go to a gay bar and my people shun me because I crossed the line and her people look to see what's wrong with her, what defect drove her to me? And when we walk the streets of the city, forget and touch or hold hands and the people stare, glare, frown and taunt at those queers. I remember every word taught me, every word said to me, every deed done to me. And then I have a look at my lover and, for an instant, doubt, and then I hold her hand tighter and I can hear my mother's cry. Lord, what kind of child is this?

Aaron Coleman: 38:40

Wow, that's beautiful.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 38:43

We had a poetry reading here at Law Harrington, which Erin led on Friday night, and Erin's part of the SPRI program and I actually live at Law Harrington and there was such beautiful poetry. It was just a lovely night sharing. There were some naughty poems, there were some heartfelt poems. It's the magic of poetry, I think, how we can craft words that can touch and evoke and be on the pulse of what is happening. Sometimes we enjoy things like the wonderful works of Murray Oliver, a lesbian poet, who often wrote about nature and how that can be a way to touch your soul in a spiritual way, which is important. Do you have something from another poet that you'd like to share, erin, or one of your own?

Aaron Coleman: 39:45

I was just thinking about. There are allies, straight artists, straight poets that are gay friendly or that are supportive of our art and our persons, and one of them is Michael Franti and he has a group called Spearhead and he has a song Doesn't Matter who you Love, but Do you Love, and that resonates with me it doesn't matter who you love, but that you love. I have a poem called the Art of Seduction. Come in and rest from travails and partake of the banquet feast I prepared. Step carefully upon the rose petals positioned expressly for your assault. Maneuver your way past object art, no doubt reflecting your green eye to the casting couch where we juxtapose, can talk.

Aaron Coleman: 40:50

A pregnant pause leads or follows a Mona Lisa Esk-Mile. Inhale, exhale something aromatic in anticipation makes for prickly skin, goose flesh. The curd is flowing and as is the wine of approval we drink and savor the sensual oblivion the stuffed dreams are made of. In clouds, inhibition. Breath quickens, air doesn't seem enough. Eyes dart and flutter, tongues dart and stutter, the house lights dim and fade. End of Act 1, act 2 and Act 3 are being reviewed by an advisory board for content.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 41:41

Karen, I just love you so much. As I told you Friday, I am so glad I'm on this planet as the same time as you.

Aaron Coleman: 41:51

That is so sweet. Thank you for saying that.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 41:54

And certainly the powerful words of James Baldwin in Langston Hughes.

Aaron Coleman: 41:59

And Maya Angelou.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 42:01

Oh yes, although I don't know that she identified as queer.

Aaron Coleman: 42:06

She had some experiences. Good detail there.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 42:10

Yeah, a lot of times we don't know about people, but, yes, so many Woodruff poets and, as you said, we have allies like Deborah Deep Luton, who has been the poet Laureate of Houston and she worked with Harrison Homer Guy to create the wonderful plum sugar, the rise of Lauren Anderson that just played at stages a few months ago. So certainly an ally and a friend to the community and just one of my favorite current day poets.

Aaron Coleman: 42:47

I have a poem that's personal to me. Why me, why me? Why HIV positive Me, hiv positive be AIDS me, drugs me, panicked me, delusional me, addict me, homeless me, motherless and fabulous me, jailed me longtime. Survivor me, recovery me, triumph me, hear me.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 43:16

You just blow me away. You really do. You absolutely blow me away. Is there anything else you want to say about poetry?

Aaron Coleman: 43:25

Just that I liken it to music, that it can soothe, it can inspire, it can make you aware, it can unify. It's like the pulse, like Maya Angelou's poem Pulse of Unpulse of Morning. It is like a heartbeat. It unites everybody through words, through emotion and through feeling.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 43:52

And say about Archway read the group with Archway.

Aaron Coleman: 43:58

We're of Archway Gallery readers for, I believe, about 12 years now, and they just recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. They're located on Dunleavy, right near Fairview. We meet once a month, usually on the third Thursday of the month from 6.30 to 8. Everybody's welcome.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 44:23

And everybody can I mean anyone can come in and say I want to read.

Aaron Coleman: 44:29

If there is time. It would be nice if you called in advance. I think that they have a website that you can call in a number and leave a message saying that you'd like to read. But it's a great group, I love the people there and there's some fantastic writers.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 44:51

So we're just going to urge folks to get in touch with poetry in their life. You can do a Google search and find queer poets and be blown away by their work. You can write your own poems. You can share them or not, but there certainly is something very special about poetry.

Aaron Coleman: 45:13

It's very therapeutic.

Deborah Moncrief Bell: 45:15

Yes, it is, and we're looking forward to having another poetry night at Law Harrington. I'm going to close out with a poem of my own, and it's very short and very sweet Teramesu, when you make love to me, it's like a sweet, satisfying dessert Ladyfingers and cream, dark, intoxicating liqueur and, of course, chocolate. This is Deborah Monkreef Bell, along with Erin Coleman, and we're celebrating National Poetry Month in Queer Poets here on Queer Voices.

Speaker 8: 46:01

I'm David Hunt and I'm Melanie Keller With News Wrap, a summary of some of the news and or affecting LGBTQ communities around the world for the week ending April 29, 2023.

Speaker 8: 46:15

Hungarian President, katelyn Novak is taking a rare stand against far-right, anti-lgbtq Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Novak vetoed a bill this week that allowed citizens to file anonymous reports to police fingering same-gender couples who are raising children. The measure, backed by Orban, also restricted the rights of a child to an identity appropriate to their sex at birth. The president is usually in lockstep with the prime minister. However, her veto letter to the National Assembly asked lawmakers to remove those provisions. The measure's purpose is to facilitate crackdowns on corruption under Hungarian law by adapting European Union statutes. She said that the extraneous provisions do not strengthen, but rather weaken the protection of fundamental values. President Novak's veto can be overridden with a simple majority vote. The European Commission has taken legal umbrage with Hungary over its increasingly anti-queer laws, including constitutional bans on marriage and adoption and laws banning so-called gay propaganda. The European Parliament and more than a dozen individual member states have joined a case against Hungary before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the largest human rights infringement procedure ever brought there.

Speaker 9: 47:39

A full-fledged Tokyo Rainbow Pride burst out of COVID restrictions for the first time in four years to parade through the city's major suboya and harajuku districts. An estimated 200,000 marched on April 22nd and attended related Pride events. Press on till Japan changes was the theme at the festivities. Pride participants demanded that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida allow lawmakers to consider full marriage for same-gender couples, or at least some form of civil unions. The most recent public opinion polls support them, but Kishida's conservative administration has blocked any efforts in court and the legislature to open the civil institution to queer couples. Kishida is hosting the Group of Seven Economic Consortium in Hiroshima in May. Even though close to 300 local jurisdictions symbolically recognize same-gender couples, Japan is the only member of the G7 without national marriage equality.

Speaker 8: 48:42

You won't find three-time US National Basketball Association champion Dwayne Wade strolling down the boulevard that bears his name anymore. Wade had lived in Florida since he led the Miami Heat to NBA Championships in 2006, 2012, and 2013. But his family no longer resides in Miami-Dade County, the place his fans still call Wade County. Wade and his actress wife, gabrielle Union, sold their Miami Beach property in 2021 and moved to Los Angeles. He explained why on the Showtime interview series Headliners this Week.

Speaker 2: 49:17

I had to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions. I mean, obviously the taxes is great, you know, having Wade County is great, but my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there, so that's one of the reasons why I don't live there.

Speaker 8: 49:33

Wade and Union are the outspoken parents of a transgender daughter named Ziya. They expressed their love and support for Ziya again when they accepted the President's Award at the 54th annual NAACP Awards in February. An Instagram post has the family proudly posing ahead of Ziya's first winter formal. Considering the anti-queer culture wars of Republican presidential wannabe Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, their move is not a shocker.

Speaker 9: 50:02

Governor DeSantis is falling behind both in his undeclared race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination and in his Mickey Mouse war. The Walt Disney Company filed suit against DeSantis this week over his efforts to punish the company's strong corporate criticism of the infamous don't say gay law. The company, and its Orlando-based Walt Disney World, is one of Florida's largest employers. Employee and public pressure pushed the mouse to show its might. Desantis then tried to usurp Disney's special district authority over the area where Walt Disney World is located. He got the legislature to replace the district governing board with a state board made up of his own cronies. Disney called that a targeted campaign of government retaliation in the suit filed on April 26th and the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Meanwhile, the state ban on classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity up to third grade that was the original bone of contention has gotten worse. Last week the DeSantis Loyal Florida Board of Education expanded the censorship laws to apply all the way through high school graduation.

Speaker 8: 51:25

That's the sound of an estimated 300 drag queens and their supporters storming the Florida State House on April 24th. They came to Tallahassee to protest Governor Ron DeSantis' efforts to virtually erase all public existence of LGBTQ people. In addition to the don't say gay law, the attention craving DeSantis has pushed through bills that force trans people to use bathrooms according to their birth certificate, gender ban drag performances and gender-affirming health care for minors and prohibit transgender females from competing in school sports. Orlando Drag Queen and queer activist Darcelle Stevens was one of the Drag Queen's March organizers. She condemned the anti-queer laws passed by this session's Republican majority lawmakers and signed into law by DeSantis, calling them cruel, unjust, full of hypocrisy and counter to the very values Republicans claim to uphold. Despite the colorful protest, there's now an official travel warning from the queer advocacy group Equality Florida. They say it's no longer safe for LGBTQ tourists to visit the Sunshine State.

Glenn Holt: 52:35

We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.

Speaker 9: 52:45

Republican-controlled US state governments are guaranteeing lots of work for district and federal courts. Of the more than 450 bills to restrict or deny rights to LGBTQ people introduced just during the first four months of this year, two came to the docket this week. Last week's Over the Top Edict by Missouri's Attorney General banning gender-affirming health care for all transgender people regardless of age has been halted. 21st Judicial Circuit Judge Ellen Roboto issued a ruling on April 27 temporarily stopping its enforcement. Lambda Legal and the ACLU are leading the legal challenge in the Show Me State, as they are with similar litigation across the country. The US Department of Justice filed suit on April 26 to challenge Tennessee's law banning gender-affirming health care for trans kids under the age of 18. That law also places parents and doctors who attempt to provide care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy in legal jeopardy. The DOJ joined three local families in their lawsuit against the measure.

Speaker 8: 53:51

Finally, was this a breach of decorum?

Speaker 10: 53:55

If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time there's an indication. When you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.

Speaker 8: 54:02

Montana's transgender state lawmaker Democrat, zoe Zephyr, was speaking in strong opposition to a bill to outlaw gender-affirming health care for transgender young people. The bill predictably passed this week. Zephyr's remarks were criticized by the Speaker of the Republican-dominated State House last week and this week the necessary two-thirds majority voted to prohibit her from entering the House Chamber or participating in the legislative process for the rest of the current session. Before the vote to kick her out of the House, the Speaker had to clear the gallery of Zephyr's senators before letting her speak.

Speaker 10: 54:39

Several were arrested Black Sheets, black Sheets, black Sheets, black Sheets. It is my honor today, as with every day in this body, to rise on behalf of my constituents in House District 100 from Missoula, montana. Today I rise in defense of those constituents, of my community and of democracy itself. This legislature has systematically attacked that community. We have seen bills targeting our art forms, our books, our history and our health care. I have had friends who have taken their lives because of these bills.

Speaker 10: 55:16

I have fielded calls from families in Montana, including one family whose trans teenager attempted to take her life while watching a hearing on one of the anti-trans bills. So when I rose up and said there is blood on your hands, I was not being hyperbolic. And when the Speaker asks me to apologize on behalf of Decoram, what he is really asking me to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed. When the Speaker disallowed me to speak, what he was doing is taking away the voices of the 11,000 Montanans who elected me to speak on their behalf. And when the Speaker gaveled down, the people demanding that democracy work, demanding that their representative be heard, when he gaveled down, what he was doing is driving a nail in the coffin of democracy.

Speaker 8: 56:12

Montana State Representative Zephyr was pictured this week sitting on a bench outside the chamber with her laptop, doing her best to represent her Missoula constituents under the circumstances.

Speaker 9: 56:24

That's News Wrap, global Queer News with Attitude for the week ending April 29, 2023. All the news in your area and around the world. An informed community is a strong community.

Speaker 8: 56:35

News Wrap is written by Greg Gordon, edited by Lucia Chappelle, produced by Brian Deschaiser and brought to you by you.

Speaker 9: 56:42

Thank you. Help keep us in ears around the world at ThisWayOutorg, where you can also read the text of this newscast and much more. For this Way Out. I'm Melanie Keller Stay healthy. And I'm David Hunt.

Glenn Holt: 57:01

Stay safe. This has been Queer Voices, which is now a home-produced podcast and available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage QueerVoicesorg. For more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Levinca. Andrew Edmanson and Deborah Moncrief Bell are frequent contributors. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.

Glenn Holt: 57:34

Some of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity and runtime. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species. Views, opinions and endorsements are those of the participants and the organizations they represent. In case of death, please discontinue use and discard remaining products.

Glenn Holt: 57:47

For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt.