Queer Alliance hosts culture night with visual art, poetry

Rashmi Raviprasad walked to the front of the crowd to recite a free-form poem about the way her queer identity has affected the relationships in her life. She talked about her family, her culture and the way that the different elements of her life intersect.

The second-year astrophysics student’s poem was one of the many pieces featured in the Queer Alliance’s ninth annual Queer Culture Night on Saturday evening. The show included dance performances by students and ICARUS Contemporary Dance Company, as well as a queer novella video.

In previous years, Queer Culture Night incorporated themes, such as creating a new family, into the performances. This year’s show had a more laid-back approach, said Chris Cabrera, a fourth-year political science student and Queer Alliance board member.

Cabrera said the purpose of the show was to showcase queer culture and history. It also provided a space for students to express their culture, ethnicity and religion, along with other facets of their identity, in unison with their sexuality and gender.

Queer Alliance is a political and advocacy coalition founded in 2002. The student group is composed of different campus organizations, including La Familia, BlaQue, Project 1 and Pan-Asian Queers. In addition to Queer Culture Night, Queer Alliance also hosts other events that the group hopes will benefit the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students and community.

The word queer is used as an umbrella term for the LGBTQ community, Cabrera said.

Sergio Sorza, a Queer Alliance board member and third-year Chicano/a studies student, said he thinks queer culture can be defined differently by each person.

For him, working as a board member for Queer Alliance and participating in the culture night was a way to become more comfortable in the queer community and explore his identity.

Sorza also performed a spoken-word piece at the event. Although his piece began as poetry, he said it evolved into more of a conversation with the audience and with himself.

At the event, Juan Espinoza presented a spoken-word poem called “Ethical Slut.” He walked onto the stage dressed in a vest and bow tie with the words “slut,” “whore” and “shame” written on his arms.

The fourth-year political science student said his poem was about “slut shaming” in the queer community and reclaiming his body and sexuality. He said he has had negative personal experiences in the past where others have tried to make him feel ashamed of his sexuality.

“My integrity as an individual is not defined by the number of sexual partners I’ve had in my life,” Espinoza said in his poem.

Dressed in drag, an announcer flirted, danced and joked with performers throughout the show. The announcer also engaged the audience and the performers in a conversation about HIV and AIDS safety during the event.

The culture night concluded with an energetic and uplifting performance by ICARUS.

Jedd Cyrus Ong, who said he identifies as a queer man, is the only male dancer in the dance company. Ong said he wanted to express himself with dance as a part of a larger community of performers who supported him and the queer community.

“When this dance was first made, it was about female power. Having myself in it changes the meaning. … It talks about oppression from a lot of different sides,” said Ong, a third-year linguistics student.

Cabrera said he thinks the show gave students a medium to learn about queer people’s experiences and community through art.

After the show, the audience was able to see several queer art pieces across the auditorium in an art exposition. The pieces included paintings, photography and drawings by queer students.