Spirit Day has me thinking back to being a gay teen in the 80s.
As an author these defining moments can find their way into our stories.
As a playwright, author, and a screenwriter, I often can’t help but allow real life situations to seep into my writing. We write what we know so it’s only natural I would often write about things going on in my life. Back in 2019, I was interviewed by Passport Magazine and called The Accidental Activist. I spoke of how I go to schools with my autism kids books talking about “it’s ok to be different”. At one point I realized I’ve been sharing that story since 1984 when I wrote a Halloween musical about monsters who are sad that they can only come out one night a year otherwise they are bullied (which I guess I wasn’t really using that word back then). That was a big Oprah Ah-Ha moment when I realized I was writing about being in the closet as a freshman in high school.
Jump ahead all these years and I’ve written several gay themed novels, but my most important work (I feel) was the short film Hiding in Daylight which played festivals around the world to shine light on a dystopian future after a gay purge had occurred in America. I’ve watched anti-LGBTQ stories appear since gay marriage became legal and felt all the small chinks against that community are leading up to larger ones. This film dealt with two gay couples pretending to be straight in order to survive. I really hope that congress can make marriage equality legal in all states so that I don’t have to worry about my marriage being taken away from me…especially after being together with my husband for 22 years.
The pandemic took my creative juices away, but recently I had mentioned to my mom that I wanted to locate the script from that 1984 musical that I had written to see if there is anything in it to turn it into a kid’s book. I thought maybe I could create a Halloween themed book with the underpinnings of a message of acceptance: something I tend to write about frequently.
I don’t want to get too political on my Substack newsletter, but yesterday a friend sent me a message that House Republicans have introduced a bill that would ban any discussion of LGBTQ people in events with kids 10 or younger for any federally funded programs. I already knew I was “different” by 10 years old and in 2022…kids have a word for that difference. But just like my short film mentioned above, here goes a group of people trying to erase ME and others like me simply because they may not agree with who I am. It’s as if the bullying doesn’t stop after you’re a youth - the bullies just get older too. I also realize this isn’t political for me…it’s simply my life.
So on this Spirit Day (October 20th)…a day to support LGBTQ youth and all the scrutiny and bullying they endure…I’m writing this article to hold myself accountable. I do want to return to that story from 1984…that first musical I wrote…and turn it into a kid’s book about being different and even perhaps putting a name to what I was feeling as that 14 year old kid writing it. If there are those in our government who want to silence voices that believe children should hear about difference, acceptance, diversity - that propels me even more to be a louder voice and create art to address these issues. Let’s hope by Spirit Day 2023, I’m ready to share the story with the world.