“You accept me…Why can’t you accept her?”
- THE OUTING by
Afrika Brown
Happy Pride
month! Where members of the LGBTQ community celebrate the pride they’ve learned
to have for themselves and their community after years of both social and
governmental oppression. The community is certainly making progress in their
fight for civil rights—19 states now recognize same sex marriage—but let’s not
forget the battle is far from over. There are still 31 states where same sex
marriage is banned or not recognized, but there are even more pertinent issues.
In 29 states, it is completely legal for a company to fire you for your sexual
or romantic orientation. In 34 you can be fired for being transgender. Yes the
fight is nowhere near over, but progress is being made, and for the first time,
it seems that these rights could be gained in the near future.
What may
always be a fight, however, is the acceptance of one’s self, and family and
societal acceptance. After an LGBTQ youth accepts his or her (or something in
between) self, he or she has to deal with the possible rejection of family, friends
and the general public. We’ve seen it all before: Bullying, parents
disapproval, getting kicked out are all possibilities. But sometimes the
rejection is completely blind sighting. Afrika
Brown’s THE OUTING deals with two sisters, one gay
(Jasmine) and one straight (Jizelle). When Jasmine comes out to her sister,
Jizelle loses it, even though one of her best friends is a gay transsexual.
Salome, her friend questions her, Jizelle replies with, “You know I have always
been fucked up… my sister has always been like a second mother. I don’t know why, but I’m repulsed. I can understand wanting to love and be with
a man. But this just seems like
bullshit.” 
It seems to
be different when it’s in the family. That’s been the case with many LGBT
youth. “You accept _____, why don’t you accept me?!” is a question too many
LGBT youth have to ask their parents or siblings. What makes Jizelle not able
to accept Jasmine? Is “You know I have always been fucked up,” a good enough
answer? Does having trouble accepting a family member’s “newfound” sexuality
make someone a bad person? Should there be some type of grace period for
friends and family to let it all sink in? Comment and tweet us at
@rianttheatre. THE OUTING will be performed in the Strawberry One-Act Festival in Series E at the Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street, NYC on Sunday, August 24th at 4pm. For tickets go to www.therianttheatre.com
To listen to a podcast interview with Afrika click the link.
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