Coming Out

For my endurance performance piece I wrote on butcher paper on a large table in Powell Campus Center from quarter to nine a.m. to quarter to three p.m. on Wednesday, February 10th. The stories that I wrote were the coming out stories of gay and bisexual people, found on the Human Rights Campaign website (hrc.org). Each story was a little bit different and offered varying perspectives and consequences of coming out to families and friends. At first, transposing the stories proved an easy task. As time went on I became immersed in the lives of the people I was writing about and I found myself wanting to know more; more about their situation, about their experiences, about the after story. Details of the environment in Powell melted away as I found myself trapped in my own head. Alone as I felt, I was reminded that I have friends who are willing to help and listen, friends who showed me what kindness they could by bringing me a sandwich or sitting with me a while over the duration of the project. What I found surprising was that only people who knew me or the project approached the table. To make this project less private and more public (if I wanted to catch public attention) I would have considered perhaps my attire, the location of the paper I was writing on or rather the use a different media than written language. I have an affinity for words, so writing the stories made them more real to me, and I really wanted to focus on the stories rather than draw attention to myself. Given the opportunity to do it again I know I would have done things differently, much differently, but thats what learning is all about.

Thanks to Ethan Martin for photography, and those who came to witness.