Ottawa Storytellers is partnering with anti-discrimination group Jer’s Vision to present (un)told: Exposed, an Oct. 9 event at the Arts Court expected to feature stories of revelation, triumph and acceptance.
Seven storytellers from the LGBTQ community are expected to perform.
The founder of Jer’s Vision, Jeremy Dias, says his purpose is to “change the hearts and minds and attitudes” of young people so they more accepting and open to people of different sexual orientations, gender identities and races.
Exposed is part two of three in the (un)told series,says co-producer Liz Martin (Soul Preservation on Sept. 11 was the first.) “What we really want to do is make people feel good about storytelling, and make people realize they have their own story to tell,” she says.
Each night of the (un)told feature series is “dramatically different,” Martin says. The last show in November will be a horror story night inspired by American author, H.P. Lovecraft.
Lukayo Estrella (who goes by the gender-neutral pronoun “they”) is both a senior manager at Jer’s Vision and will be one of the storytellers at Exposed.
The performers will “talk about what it means to be queer and trans in this day and age,” says Estrella. They stressed that a specific theme is necessary to make the storytellers feel more comfortable. “They know people coming to the event will be prepared for (the topic) and won’t attack them,” says Estrella.
Estrella plans to tell their “tragic love story” about growing up in a strict Catholic household and keeping a relationship with a girl a secret.
“I am talking about the first girl that I ever loved and lost my virginity to, and our complicated relationship,” Estrella says. “It was a shock to my system that this kind of person would fall in love with me,” Estrella explained. “She was very feminine and I was a very androgynous and awkward child.”
Estrella also plans to weave a Filipino creation story into their coming out story. “Tagalog people have a creation story where the sky and earth are throwing rocks at each other, and the rocks landed in the ocean and became the islands,” Estrella says.
“Out of the rocks grew bamboo, and out of the bamboo came the first human being, man and woman, as equals. Through that, I talk about the idea as myself. The story is called, My Gender as Bamboo,” Estrella says.
“In essence, I have both a masculine and feminine spirit, but I also am beyond that, because bamboo is neither male nor female,” Estrella explains.
The seven storytellers are a mixed bag of new performers and seasoned professionals. “A lot of these stories are unheard,” Estrella says. “A lot of people are really worried about opening up…about coming out or about their gender and sexuality.”
Laurie Fyffe, managing artistic director for Ottawa Storytellers, commends the storytellers’ bravery. “Storytelling can be a terrifying art form,” she says. “Often storytellers get up there with very few props or costumes…Most of that is absent.”
This is the first event of its kind. Ottawa Storytellers reached out to Jer’s Vision in hopes of hearing from more of the community and to expose their audience to a wider variety of storytellers.
“When you’re not hearing from a particular community you need to ask yourself why,” Fyffe says. “You kind of have to wave your hands and go ‘Look, we really do want to hear your stories!’”
Events such as Exposed, she says, are an important step in making people feel accepted. “Everybody’s voice is legitimate and everybody’s story needs to be heard.”