As LGBT History Month draws to a close, campus groups are trying to end the month in style.
Wednesday night, Spectrum hosted Queer Confessions, a night of poetry, monologues and performances dedicated to LGBT students on campus.
Throughout the night, students shared both original pieces and personal favorite poems with the audience gathered at Highland Coffees.
Blair Brown, communication studies sophomore, served as emcee of the event and was pleased with the participation and the messages shared.
“We did this because we wanted to continue to celebrate LGBT history month and to find a way for the LGBT community and allies to express themselves in a safe environment,” Brown said.
The participants’ poems and stories were diverse, ranging anywhere from intensely personal stories of unrequited love to satire of classic fairy tales.
Ja’Ron Augustus, political science junior, pulled double duty as both an organizer of the event and a performer.
“I took a class a while back and felt the need to really learn how to take leadership,” Augustus said. “So I joined Spectrum and we came up with this idea for a poetry night.”
Augustus, true to his resolution to take on leadership, took the stage as the first performer of the night. Augustus said he was proud of his poem and that it shared a lot about who he is as a person.
“I go to church every Sunday and I read the verses and hear people say that homosexuality is wrong,” Augustus said. “Honestly, sometimes it makes me feel bad, and my poem is my feelings on that.”
Augustus said that while he is a believer in Christianity, he tries to focus on his own personal relationship with God and to ignore what others say. The poem was his way of reconciling who he is with what he believes.
Event organizers were pleased with what was shared and said it sent out a positive message to anyone in attendance.
“I think LGBT students need an artistic outlet to talk about these things in a safe environment,” said Micah Caswell, graduate assistant in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and member of Spectrum. “Tonight was all about sharing and that is what happened.”
While the focus was on LGBT students and their experiences, the poets and organizers worked to make sure anyone in attendance could understand it was about more than LGBT issues.
“It is really not about being gay or anything else,” Augustus said. “In the end, the night was about people coming and communicating their feelings to the audience, and that is what we did.”
Drake McCrimmon performs a monologue Wednesday night, Oct. 23, 2013 during Queer Confessions: A Spectrum Poetry Night at Highland Coffees.
