The chandelier lights dimmed when Alison De La Cruz, the first
of the performers for the Queer Alliance Performance Night,
adjusted the music stand in front of her and got ready to read her
original poetry. The tall empty room turned cozy as more people
walked in on the event.
“I want to share what’s really in our hearts.
Tonight is also about embracing the parts of ourselves that feel
damaged or ugly and just connecting with one another,” said
De La Cruz.
Kerckhoff Grand Salon played host Wednesday night to a lineup of
both student and non-student artists who read poems, performed
skits and sparked dialogue to make the night all the more
intimate.
Queer Alliance is a group that aims to provide a bridge between
all organizations dealing with issues that affect people who are
traditionally disadvantaged on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity.
Jennifer Partnoff, a fourth-year history and women’s
studies student, stood next to the table covered with pamphlets of
information and welcomed attendees with a warm smile.
Partnoff, like others involved with Queer Alliance, saw this
event and others held during National Coming Out Week as an
opportunity to reach out to new students and offer them a safe
space to embrace their identities.
The event was intended to show students that there is a lot
going on outside the immediate community as far as performance and
expression goes, Partnoff said.
Partnoff has been working on the National Coming Out Week events
since the beginning of summer with a small committee, and has been
very pleased with the outcome of the events so far.
“It’s been great because we’ve had a lot of
people attend and (the Queer Alliance) is very pleased
overall,” Partnoff said.
QueerXGirl President Georgina Wakefield, a fifth-year American
literature and culture student, worked with Partnoff on the
committee. Wakefield said that though it has been hectic organizing
and planning everything, she is proud of the success and popularity
the groups were able to achieve through the events.
While the performance night attracted a crowd of about 60,
Wakefield said the committee made sure to plan a variety of events
throughout the week so that people could relate to lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender issues in different ways.
Wakefield recalled the successes of events earlier in the week,
including speakers at the resource fair held Tuesday in Bruin
Plaza. West Hollywood City Councilman Jeffrey Preng spoke on LGBT
issues in the political spectrum, and UCLA alumna Ricca Aoki shared
her personal experience coming out and the pressures she faced.
“(Aoki) was a very inspirational speaker; a lot of people
stopped to listen to her as they walked by Bruin Plaza. What she
was saying was universal ““ it was about pain and courage and
it was just amazing,” Wakefield said.
In addition to both the performance night and rally, the Queer
Alliance plans to hold a panel of open discussion and dialogue
about LGBT issues today at 6 p.m. in the Kerckhoff Art Gallery, and
a culminating dance is planned for Friday night in De Neve
Plaza.
Jeremiah Garcia, a second-year art student, attended events this
week and said the efforts made during National Coming Out Week are
just a “good thing because it is an outreach to the religious
communities, ethnic communities, and everybody in
between.”
Garcia admitted he had difficulty accepting others in the LGBT
community in the past.
“After being involved with Queer Alliance and attending
events like these, I don’t even think like that anymore. Its
not even an issue. I’ve really become comfortable,”
Garcia said.
The performances continued in the Grand Salon, but only by the
faint lights glowing through the stained glass windows could anyone
tell that a small group had gathered to become inspired, share,
connect and embrace identities as De La Cruz had described
earlier.