Photography by CAL - As seen at Alabama Art Kitchen.

There's something significant about a lesbian discussing love and sex with a throng of queers and queer-likes from a porch in Alabama next door to a worship center while a car bee-bops down the alley blaring "Born This Way."

Porches have always been significant in southern culture. We like big wide porches where we can drink sweet tea, discuss who we do and don't like, and wave at the passerbys who may come our way. In theory at least. I personally think a porch is a private stage where one can slip on a dainty corset and werk, drop, and werk. Last night a few brave people werked the stage at the Alabama Art Kitchen as part of a reception for the Breaking Boundaries queer art gallery put on my Creative Campus. (Those kids are really growing on/impressing me.) I was a tad late as my pit stop at the bar took longer than expected after that last one goldschlagger shot. You know how it is. But anygay, Brenna Horrocks shared stories of her own as well as a professor, Wendy Rawlings, who read from her book The Agnostics. It was a tad long-winded for someone with the attention span of a limp tulip, but it sparked this appreciation for what it really was that they represented. They were sharing personal moments on this porch. This stage. It was out loud and unashamed and really beautiful. And we gathered on the small stretch of earth and spilled onto government sidewalks and street pavement and we listened. Not just a handful even. I said earlier a throng. Not just because it makes me giggle. But because it was such a large group of queers that are diverse even in their own queerality. Activist gays, party gays, fag hags, academic lesbians, and just straight up homosexuals by nature were all there.

Brought together by art.

It's what unites us. All art has a way of erasing the lines and bring us together for at least one night it seems to me. Whether it be hanging from a wall downtown or leaping across stage on campus, we appreciate expression. I personally appreciated the expression of my face as one of the pieces last night. Was not expecting that I'll assure you. You can see the photography of Corey Lollar, the writings of Brenna Horrocks, and absolutely more if you stop by the Alabama Art Kitchen this week. If you're confused where it is, its on University Blvd, past the two 69 bridges on the right. Figure it out from there. Go be united by art. Be a part of our collective expression just by popping in for a mere five minutes.

Thank you to Creative Campus, Leigh Thomas, and all the contributors for initiating this expression and making a stand for queer art!


Over and Out,
CampusQueer