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OUT in the MOUNTAINS

 

 

YOUTH PRIDE 41 1.  

 

BY LAUREN PARKER

is year’s Youth Pride will be
I bigger and better than ever. If
you’ve never come out to cele-
brate it, this is the year to journey to
Burlington. You’ll be part of a loud,
proud movement of queer youth and
their allies. If you’ve come before,
expect something different, new, and
exciting. New or old, May is the
month to celebrate our pride—and
take it to the streets.
Youth Pride will kick off
around noon on Saturday, May 14,
with a speak-out on the steps of
Burlington’s City Hall. This is a time
to rally the forces and listen to the
stories of queer youth. You can even
step up to the mic and tell your story,
sing a song, read a poem, whatever
your heart desires.
After the fabulous speak-

out, we’1l prepare for the Pride march.

Bring posters (or carry some created
by Outright youth), warm up your
chanting voice, and get ready to
march in the street. This year, we
hope to move the march off the side-
walk and into the street to further

reinforce our strength. We’ll be wav-
ing rainbow flags, chanting at the top
of our lungs, and having an all-around
good time.

When the march is over V
and your yelling voice is shot, you
have lots of options for spending the
rest of the day. You can finally see the
short Theatre for Social Justice play
that Outright youth created. We’ll also
have workshops for you to enjoy
(their topics are TBA to keep you in
suspense. . .), some outdoor games
(pull out that deflated kickball and put
it to good use!), and a niceplace to
chill and watch some movies at our
very own Outright. If none of these
are your thing, just hang out down-
town with your newfound friends and
maybe do a little shopping for the
drag ball! “There’s a drag ball?” you
ask? Read on...

When the hour grows late
and the sun lowers in the sky, it’s
time tostart primping for the prom!
And at this prom, you don’t have to
worry about the sex of your date. All
you need to worry about is gettin’
down to boogie!  Anyway, prom
primping: dress up, put on some
make-up, adjust your wig: do whatev-

er you need to do to become the fabu-
lous, fashionable you (or your alter-
nate personality).

' ' Then, when you’re ready,
step onto the dance floor. We’ll have
great music, food, and some good,
old-fashioned dance contests. Don’t
skimp on your yoga routines; you’ll
need that flexible back to hold your
own in the limbo contest. You may
also want to get out that dance video
for a not-so-old-fashioned contest: the
Drag Show. Either sign up ahead of
time to perform or be an adoring fan
of our wonderful young queens,
kings, and everything in-between. The

v rest of the night is yours. Dance,

dance, dance.

Youth Pride is about being
yourself, being accepted, being loved,
and being welcomed into Vermont’s
vibrant queer and allied community.
So don’t let anyone stand in your
way. Get out your coolest rainbow
gear, grab a ride to Burlington, and
show your PRIDE. V

Lauren Parker is a senior at
Champlain Valley Union High School
in Hinesburg and founded the school’s
Gay-Straight Alliance

Playing for

On a Saturday in
late February, a
group of about ten
people gathered in the basement of the
UU church. Although they all were dif-
ferent ages, and had different stories to
tell, they all came to collectively write
a play. On one side of the circle Norma
Bowles and Sarah Guerrero began by
telling everyone they and their col-

BY FAYE

leagues fly all over the county to help

groups find their voice through theatre.
_The first day, we collected

stories from everyone in the group.
One group-member told about a protest
where an anti-gay protester showed up,
and began to shout and wave signs. All
of the protesters surrounded him, danc-
ing and playing music. Soon he

became frustrated and left peacefully. _ ‘

Another told about her negative experi-
ence coming out to her church commu-
nity as trans.

The next time we met,
Norma and Sarah had typed up a tran-
script from the voice recording. We all
read it over, and talked about what
parts of it were most powerful, and
how we could adapt the stories to
break down stereotypes, and be most
meaningful to our target audiencer'high

Justice

school students who try hard to fit in,
and just aren’t sure how they feel about
queers. By the end of the night we
were trying to decide the best way to

put all of our stories into one, short,

but intensely effective play. We left
that night, not sure if we should give
our message a comic tone, or make it
into something a bit darker.

Overnight and throughout
the next morning Sarah and Norma
worked on finding a balanced way of
presenting our message. Finally Sarah
had a eureka moment, and they speedi-
ly composed a general outline for “The
Reel Deal." The play would be a
youth-hosted movie review show. It
would include people’s stories as clips
from movies. Between clips the hosts
would have a chance to talk about what
the audience just witnessed, and there
would also be the opportunity for PSA

‘announcements, which promote

Outright, talk about transphobia, and
encourage youth to make a difference.
We spent our three hours
that night improving the dialogue that
would happen in the loosely written
scenes. Once again. Norma and Sarah
took all of our dialogue to their hotel to
type it all up, but this time, their cre-

ation would be the first draft of our
script.

Our next two days were
spent paring down the script to make it
a more succinct, 30-45 minute play,
composed essentially of the three
movie clips. The first is a romantic
comedy about two girls who fall in
love in high school, including the girl’s
friends and ex-boyfriend’s responses to
her new relationship. The next is a
screwball comedy about a young man
in high school who is afraid to tell his
friends and girlfriend that his dad is
gay. The last is about a trans young
man who is not understood by his
teachers or peers.

Since Sarah and Norma left,
the TS] group has congregated twice.
The first time, we discussed the future
of the production, the second time to
gather potential actors and prepare for
a reading. We decided the reading
would be an awesome way to gather
feedback about our script and get a feel
for what it looks like onstage. We will
hold two more rehearsals before we
present our script at Youth Pride. V

Faye is a student at Burlington High

School and has been actively involved
at Outright for the past year. She is in
charge of BHS ‘s GSA and is c0-direct-
ing “The Reel Deal" with Jen Berger.