SpeakOUT: Intersections of LGBTQ Identity and ART

Your silence will not protect you (Audrey Lourde, 1977).

Attempts to erase, minimize or “other” people who are LGBTQ and/or BIPOC are not new. In contrast, SpeakOUT 2024-25 educates, celebrates and inspires those identities by exploring their intersections with Art, Law, Literature and Mass Media. SpeakOUT dialogues offer safe spaces for asking hard questions about the mutual impact of cultural trends and queerness. For example:

LGBTQ Identity and ART examines how the rising cost of living makes it challenging to create art that is not commercially popular. June 27th at the Gulfport Library

LAW/LITERATURE asks how book bans and “don’t say gay” laws have brought together writers and lawyers – with what results? What have teachers, school administrators, parents and students been able to do to minimize censorship? September 26th at Stetson College of Law

MASS MEDIA keeps exploding with new technologies. Is online access to information on LGBTQ topics a benefit? …a danger? …both? How is AI changing the online landscape? November 14th, location TBD

SpeakOUT’s CAPSTONE dialogue reviews the prior three sessions with an eye to common threads, surprises and difference between them. January 9th, 2025, location TBD

These and other questions will be explored in depth by humanities scholars, content experts – and YOU if you join SpeakOUT in-person or online via Zoom. SpeakOUT is a free program, created by OUT Arts & Culture and partially funded by Florida Humanities. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available for each dialogue session.

Free parking and light refreshments by donation.

Host or Publisher LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport (Florida) Public Library