Don't Hate: Liberate!

The Center for Constitutional Rights NYC got in touch with members of the Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition about a month ago after they found our You Tube Video of the demo last November. They told us they were preparing to file charges on Scott Lively for persecution on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and that this would take place in the Springfield Federal Courthouse because this is Scott Lively’s residence.  

So on the same day that the Center for Constitutional Rights filed an international lawsuit against Scott Lively, the Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition organized a press conference and funeral march procession, featuring over 7o folks dressed in all black and wearing white masks carrying caskets to Scott Lively’s cofeehouse and ministry on State Street in Springfield.  The mood was somber.  The pace was kept by a slow drum beat.  Over 300 news sources from around the world covered the lawsuit and the local rally and march.  Local videographer Joe Oliverio created these videos.

Wednesday, March 21st, at 5 pm – Out Now will be screening the movie “Fire.”  ”Fire” has been seen many times by most of the Out Now staff and comes with great reviews!  The screening is part of our Monthly Youth Movie Series, and is open to youth.  There will be popcorn, comfy seats, and facilitated discussion afterwards.

This February 22nd  - Wednesday at 5 pm – Out Now is celebrating Audre Lorde Day.  Never heard of Audre Lorde Day?  Well, that’s probably because it doesn’t exist – until now!   Out Now is honoring Audre Lorde – a Caribbean-American poet, writer, and freedom fighter – by bringing youth and their allies together to read Audre’s poems and writings about identity, feminism, racism, and cultures of resistance.  This event is youth-centered – so if you are youth, bring your friends!  If you don’t identify as youth, please e-mail at outnow@comcast.com for permission to attend.  We want to bring folks together – but we also want to ensure that the space remains a youth-focused, safe space.

Hey YOUTH! Are you coming to this year’s True Colors conference?  Its March 16th and 17th in Hartford Connecticut.  We are bringing a few carloads of youth – so if you wanna get in on this, sign-up ASAP at Wednesday drop-ins.

Please join us in standing with Michael Ververis, victim of police brutality, on Monday February 27th   and Tuesday February 28th at 8:45 am at the Springfield District Court.  Michael was brutally assaulted by members of the Springfield Police Department a little over a year ago.  He now faces misdemeanor and felony charges.  His legal team is filing a Motion to Dismiss on the grounds that the officers involved fabricated evidence to cover-up their unwarranted violence.  Members of Justice for Michael and the Community Coalition for Justice are mobilizing for court solidarity.  Please join us by RSVPing here.

The criminal justice system thrives on secrecy and a lack of transparency.  We must shine as a bright a spotlight as possible on Michael’s case.  We stand in solidarity with the families of Michael Ververis, Charles Wilhite, Melvin Jones, and the countless other young folks – often from low-income backgrounds – that are railroaded into the criminal justice system by racist police and conviction-hungry DAs.

The hearings, which will feature testimony from many Springfield police officers, will likely take several hours both days.  Please attend what you can.  And spread the word!

On Monday January 16th – Martin Luther King Jr. Day – QuEST will be performing its “Our Liberation: Using Interactive Theatre to Untangle Oppression” workshop at the 28th Annual MLK Day Celebration at Edwards Church in Northampton.  The event starts at 11 am, and the workshop will be held from 11:30 to 12:30.  QuEST,  which stands for QUeer Empowerment thru Solidarity and Truth, is an interracial multi-generational collaboration within Out Now that strives to educate each other and the broader community about the intersectionality of oppression and the various systems, like the prison industrial complex (PIC) that feed and maintain our collective chains.  In this workshop, we talk about racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, and sexism, among other issues.  But we don’t stop there – together with the audience, we create solutions to everyday instances of oppression.  This is not the type of theatre to which you’re probably accustomed.  In this workshop, the audience becomes actors too (we call everyone ‘spect-actors’).  The workshop becomes a sort of dress rehearsal for real life – where participants discover and then perform ways to interrupt and intervene in oppressive situations.  Sound interesting?  Come to our workshop on Monday January 16th at Edwards Church in downtown Northampton.  Event starts at 11 am; our workshop begins at 11:30 am.

“We’re gonna beat. Back. The bigot’s attack! We’re gonna beat beat back that bigot’s attack!” Dozens of us crowded around the Holy Grounds Coffeehouse, bellowing these words with a combination of joy and anger. We were already feeling empowered, having spent the last fifteen minutes performing a scripted People’s Mic about the dangerous man in front of us. The People’s Mic is a tool used by the burgeoning Occupy/Decolonize Movement that utilizes peoples’ collective voices to amplify a single person’s words.

The Holy Grounds Coffeehouse, located on 455 State Street in Springfield MA, is home to the ministries of Scott Lively, an outspoken leader of the anti-gay movement, both nationally and internationally. He is most well-known for his involvement in Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, and has played a role in developing legislation that criminalizes and disenfranchises LGBTQ people in various places throughout the world. His presence in Springfield endangers our LGBTQ community.

Our March Against Hate on November 18th made it clear to Lively and his supporters that we will not let his hateful rhetoric and action go unchecked. There are more of us than them, and we will continue to work to increase our visibility and power while also ensuring that their influence continues to diminish. Organized by Occupy Springfield (and endorsed by Out Now and Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition), the march and rally is an important step forward for grassroots organizing in Springfield, as wider layers of local activists are stepping up to take on homophobia and transphobia in their own organizing work.

Thanks to Joe Oliverio, for making such an awesome video of the event! You can see more of Joe’s videos about various social justice campaigns here.

 
On November 20th, Out Now staff and youth went bowling and we really queered up the joint! We were loud and proud. In addition to the theatrics, we were also pretty damn good! It was a great way to let off some stress after a crazy busy week, with the Scott Lively protest on the 18th and then the Bank of America sit-in and rally on the 19th. If you wanna join us next time, make sure to let us know.

Mark it on your calendars! On November 11th, QuEST youth will be bringing their “Our Liberation! Theatre” workshop to the Mass Mutual Center for the 2011 Transcending Boundaries National Conference.