Arts & Entertainment
Gearing up for ‘Change’
LGBT conference unfolds in Baltimore this weekend
Not surprisingly, Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is excited about the start of the 24th Creating Change conference, now underway in Baltimore.
This year, the Task Force expects a record-breaking crowd of about 3,000 LGBT activists and their allies to come together for a weekend of celebrating victories, analyzing losses and developing strategies for moving forward in the challenging political and social landscape of 2012.
“This conference is where many of us got our start as LGBT activists,” Carey says. “It brings together an amazingly diverse array of people from across the country and around the world.”
The NAACP’s Benjamin Jealous speaks at Creating Change in Baltimore this weekend. (Photo courtesy NAACP)
There are, for example, workshop tracks on aging, arts and culture, disability, community centers and community organizing, fundraising, legislative challenges and the 2012 elections, families, gender issues, campus mobilization, labor, religion, people of color, the transgender community and sexual freedom. In addition, the conference started with day-long skill-building and networking institutes and the first-ever Creating Change Lobby Day where activists traveled to Capitol Hill to brief their congressional delegations on the spectrum of issues facing gay and lesbian Americans.
Carey notes that two of the most active contingents this year are youth and elected officials. “We have a large contingent of young people who are working in their high schools and colleges and in their communities to create progressive change. We will also have more elected and appointed officials participating in the conference than we ever have before.”
Conference attendees come together for a series of plenary sessions emceed by lesbian comedian Kate Clinton. This year, the plenaries include a state-of-the-movement address by Carey, a panel on international issues moderated by Cary Alan Johnson of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and a performance by gay actor and activist Wilson Cruz. Blade editor Kevin Naff moderates a panel on national politics with the Victory Fund’s Robin Brand, Equality Forum’s Malcolm Lazin and Equality Federation’s Rebecca Isaacs Friday at 3 p.m.
The highlight of this year’s conference is the keynote address by Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP. Jealous comes from a long line of civil rights advocates and has become a straight ally in the fight for LGBT equality.
“We are deeply honored to have one of the best civil rights leaders in the country address us and I am sure he will be speaking from the heart,” Carey said.
Jealous has spoken movingly of the struggles faced by his gay brother, whom he describes as “the closest person to me in the world,” and remembers how they fought together against childhood bullies. Working with NAACP Chairman Emeritus Julian Bond, Jealous created a LGBT Equality Task Force at the NAACP to help the African-American community fight the challenges of homophobia and transgender discrimination.
Jealous and the national office of the NAACP were staunch opponents of Proposition 8, the anti-same-sex marriage measure in California, but Jealous notes that lack of outreach to the African-American community was in issue in the loss. At last year’s NAACP convention, Jealous said, “If folks really wanted to win on Prop. 8, and thought the black community was so important, then they should have started organizing outreach a lot sooner.” Instead, LGBT organizers “who came to the black community late” sent a message of disrespect.
Carey emphasizes that, “It is part of the value of the Task Force to partner with non-LGBT organizations as we seek justice and equality. The challenge for all of us is that we have a lot to learn from other movements and they have a lot to learn from us.”
The conference runs through Sunday at the Hilton Baltimore. Visit creatingchange.org for details.
The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian marked International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering Gay Day at the Zoo for @WashBlade . Here at @NationalZooDC pic.twitter.com/LqgGNOOAiM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) May 5, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization
The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
Miss Kitty tackles classical mythology in ‘Metamorphoses’
Folger production seen through the lens of the African diaspora
‘Metamorphoses’
May 7-June 16
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Miss Kitty’s words are thoughtful and measured, occasionally punctuated by flamboyant flourishes and uplifting proclamations. Her tried and tested tagline is “live in fierce not fear.”
She describes herself as “AMAB (assigned male at birth), nonbinary, genderqueer, transfemme” as well as “chanteuse, noble blacktress, and dancer.”
Currently, Miss Kitty is testing her talents in Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” at Folger Theatre on Capitol Hill.
At 90 minutes, “Metamorphoses,” is made up of interwoven vignettes from classical mythology including the tales of Midas and his daughter, Alcyone and Ceyx, and Eros and Psyche.
“It’s all stories that relate to the human condition: the follies, the happiness, the love, the loss,” Miss Kitty explains. “And a thorough knowledge of mythology isn’t a requirement for enjoyment.”
The language is contemporary and with its 11-person ensemble cast – comprised exclusively of Black or indigenous people of color – they’re adding their own spin to its present-day feel, she adds.
In Zimmerman’s famously staged premiere production, the actors performed in and around a pool of water. At Folger, director Psalmayene 24 has ditched actual aquatics; instead, he suggests the element by introducing Water Nymph, a new character constructed around Miss Kitty.
Water Nymph doesn’t speak, but she’s very visible from the opening number and throughout the play on stage and popping up in unexpected places around the venue.
“It’s a lot of dancing; I haven’t danced the way Tony Thomas is choreographing me in a very long time. At 40, can she still make theater with just my body as her instrument?
The name “Miss Kitty” was born over a decade ago.
Miss Kitty recalls, “She was still presenting as male and going by her dead name. Someone commented that with the wig she was wearing for a part, she looked like Eartha Kitt whom she deeply admires.”
Her penchant for illeism (referring to oneself in third person) isn’t without good reason. She explains, “It’s to reiterate that however she might look, she’s always there; and if you misgender, she will let you know.”
Initially, the moniker was a drag persona at Capital Pride or the occasional fabulous cabaret performance at a nightclub.
But as time passed, she realized that Miss Kitty was something she couldn’t take off. She had always been a part of her.
“She’s helped me to grow and flourish; she’s given me the strength that I never would have had before. I’m so proud of myself for realizing that before it was too late.”
Bringing Miss Kitty into her theatrical career presented some concerns. Would theater folks be open to the new her, especially those she’d worked with before?
Not always, but she’s found new companies who’ve welcomed Miss Kitty with open arms including Avant Bard, Spooky Action Theater, and now Folger.
Last fall, Miss Kitty appeared in Spooky Action’s Agreste (Drylands), a stunning queer story penned by gay Brazilian playwright Newton Moreno.
After being invited to audition and reading the script, Miss Kitty was determined to be a part of the production.
A work dealing with love and being trans, and transphobia, and how people can turn on a dime once they learn the truth about someone, resonated deeply with the actor.
“The play speaks to the idea that if people just let people be who they are and love who they want to love we’d all be a lot happier,” she says.
For her sublime efforts, Miss Kitty nabbed a Helen Hayes Award nomination in the Outstanding Lead Performer category (winner to be determined on Monday, May 20 during a ceremony at The Anthem).
It’s her first time nominated and first time attending. She’s thrilled.
Miss Kitty grew up in Oxen Hill, Md., and now lives near Washington Harbor. Her entry into performance was through music followed by high school plays. She graduated from Catholic University with a degree in music/concentration in musical theater, and from there dove directly into showbiz.
Looking back, Miss Kitty says, “being a person of color AND queer can be a double whammy of difficulty. You have to live in light and do the things you’re afraid to do. That’s the game changer.”
Presenting “Metamorphoses” through the lens of the African diaspora (the cast also includes Jon Hudson Odom and Billie Krishawn, among others) helps us to realize that every story can be universal, especially for marginalized people — South Asian, Native American, or fully queer perspectives, she says.
“Having an all-Black ensemble opens all new worlds for everyone.”
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