Out & Proud

It's National Coming Out Day! Throw open those closet doors and see how good itfeels

Closets are for boring clothes, not super-irradiated rainbow dinner jackets!
Artist Keith Haring's image of coming out became the national symbol of NationalComing Out Day back in the 80s.

In honor of National Coming Out Day being celebrated across college campuses all day today, I think it's time that everyone spend even a quick moment conceptualizing the idea of "coming out."

What is the one thing that you're hiding from your friends, your family members, your co-workers or your significant other? Perhaps today's the day to throw open the closet doors on those deep-rooted secrets (as long as it's legal and safe) and air 'em out in the open.

If you haven't figured it out yet from the amount of RuPaul's Drag Race posts I do for CultureMap, I'm gay.

For me, the whole point of National Coming Out Day is making sure that gay people are seen and truly recognized as a (diverse and fabulous) presence in the world.

Years ago, I would have been terrified of saying that on such a public forum because of what my family or my employers might think. But I'm lucky enough to have a family and a workplace that are more than happy with me being honest about my sexuality. It's just part of who I am, like the fact that I'm tall and really, really, really ridiculously good-looking. (Deal with it.)

I've been thinking a lot recently about how fortunate I am to live in Austin — the only city in Texas to officially support marriage equality — and in the United States especially, where I can be open about my identity without fear of legal or physical retribution.

This new awareness that I typically take for granted came after watching two eye-opening documentaries at Polari (formerly the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival), Call Me Kuchu and The Invisible Men. Capturing the terrifying realities for gays and lesbians in Uganda and Palestine respectively, these films highlight just how far we've come in the U.S., and how much further we need to come worldwide.

For me, the whole point of National Coming Out Day is making sure that gay people are seen and truly recognized as a (diverse and fabulous) presence in the world. Unlike race or gender, sexuality is an "unseen" minority status that can be denied or hidden if required. Coming out then makes this status visible and undeniable to the public, affirming that gay people in fact exist everywhere.

As long as bodies and attraction have existed, a portion of the human population has been gay. But we're only now getting to a place in the United States where being out offers as many lifestyle opportunities as staying in the closet does. Getting married and raising kids and having partner benefits? Why, you're too generous, Only a Few States So Far!

Since most of us can admit that it's not a choice as to whether or not you have same-sex attraction, we can say that it's now a matter of whether or not you can accept all the cultural and emotional baggage that comes along with saying it out loud. Depending on your support network and your exposure to popular culture, coming out might be as easy for some as it is impossible for others.

Our progressive society is realizing at a quickly escalating rate that everyday traditions and life cycle rituals and even guiding doctrines may require some updating to fit our changing times. We have a President who recognizes this, legal systems that recognize this and — most amazingly — religious leaders that recognize this.

Thankfully, it's far safer and saner to come out in the U.S. these days for everyone involved. But it's still a terribly difficult thing to do for most people, often involving a great deal of public ugly crying and snot after days and months of solitary ugly crying and snot.

As long as everything goes well, coming out can feel like the most freeing emotional enema imaginable. Furthermore, it will open your eyes to just how accepting the world around you really is/n't, and it will make you aware of just how brave and powerful and special you really are.

That's why I agree with Harvey Milk, who used to say that "everyone should have to come out" at least once in their lives so they can know how it feels and have compassion for the queer members of our population. If that happened, he argued, discrimination would have ended a long time ago.

So if you've never done it before, how about trying it today?

Even if you're on the fully heterosexual end of the Kinsey Scale, what's something you've never had the courage to tell anyone else about that is secretly a significant part of your identity? Are you a closet diehard Taylor Swift fan? A hoarder? A lady on the street but a freak in the bed?

I don't mean to make light of any of these conditions, and I don't equate them with being gay. But what they do all have in common is that none of these "unseen" identity markers are visible until they are confessed out loud. And when they are spoken in to existence, it changes something about the person saying it.

Whatever your identity, take today to think about what you've always been afraid to admit. Think about the courage it takes to do so. And then give it up for the millions of individuals across the globe that are doing it — sometimes by choice, sometimes by force — every day of their lives.

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bowled over

Houston artist dishes on Food Bank fundraiser happening this weekend

Picture of several artists at a table with a bunch of handmade ceramic bowls.

Photo courtesy Paula Murphy

Ceramics professor Cori Cryer and her students from Lone Star College Kingwood and the bowls they donated to the 20th Empty Bowls fundraiser

On Saturday, May 16, shoppers have an opportunity to feed those in need by purchasing unique, handcrafted items. The 20th Empty Bowls event takes place at Silver Street Studios at Sawyer Yards from 10 am to 3 pm. A preview party takes place on Friday, May 15 from 6-8 pm (buy tickets here).

The fundraiser is a collaboration between Houston-area ceramists, woodturners, and artists working in all media and Silver Street Studios.

Shoppers can purchase one-of-a-kind bowls for $25 each (larger bowls are priced accordingly). A simple lunch from Salata, a sweet treat from Ben & Jerry’s, and iced coffee from Katz Coffee is served until it runs out. Every dollar of the purchases goes to the Houston Food Bank, which estimates that for every dollar donated, it’s able to provide three meals to Houstonians in need. Since its inception, Empty Bowls Houston has raised $1,208,959 for the Houston Food Bank, which equates to more than 3.6 million meals.

The event also includes live music and art demos. More than 2,000 bowls will be available for purchase, donated by area artists.

Empty Bowls began as a grassroots effort started many years ago at a high school in Michigan and is now held all over the world. Nearly everything for Empty Bowls events, from the food served to the venues hosting events and the bowls for sale are donated.

Cori Cryer, a professor of ceramics at Lone Star College Kingwood, is one of those who, along with her students, donated bowls for the fundraiser. She’s been involved with the effort for all of its 20 years in Houston, and before that in other cities.

“When I started donating, I didn't have a whole lot of money,” Cryer tells CultureMap. “I was a graduate student, and so this was a way for me to give back to the local community. And I think my students today kind of recognize that same feel. You know, they may not have money to send a check off to someone, [but this is] an easy way for them to be able to contribute to the community.”

Cryer teaches Ceramics I and Ceramics II to a variety of dual-credit high school students, college students, and continuing education students. Those in her Ceramics II classes are required to create five bowls to donate to Empty Bowls. But her students in her introductory class often end up donating as well. This year, she and her students provided approximately 150 bowls for the event.

Cryer said that the style of bowls for sale range from something as small as a condiment bowl to much larger serving bowls As each bowl is an individual work, they represent a variety of styles and themes. One of her students this year designed a glazed, ceramic leaf-shaped bowl with ceramic insects on it.

“There's a ladybug and a caterpillar and a spider,” she says, each created out of clay and positioned around the bowl.

Cryer loves seeing how the artists use their imaginations and abilities.

“Most of my students do throw their bowls on the pottery wheel, but that's not required,” she says. “They can hand-build them. It’s completely up to them what kind of construction technique they use.”

Cryer loves knowing that this event is a way for students to see that their artistic efforts can have lasting impact on the community around them. In addition to being able to support the Houston Food Bank, the bowls her class donates, she knows, take on special meaning for those who purchase them.

“I tell my students there is a pot for every person and a person for every pot,” she says.

In fact, one of her personal favorite bowls is one she purchased from an Empty Bowls sale.

“It's a very small bowl, maybe like three inches in diameter, and two inches tall, and it's a little pink pig that I think an elementary student made,” she said. “He has no tail, and he has no ears, but he has a snout, and it is definitely a pig. And I love that little bowl. I have it sitting on my desk at home.”

Cryer knows shoppers attending the Empty Bowls sale will find similar, soon-to-be-beloved items.

The Saturday event is free. Those wishing to attend the preview party on Friday, May 15 from 6-8 pm, which offers light bites, beer and wine, and the first chance to purchase bowls, can purchase a $50 ticket online. In addition, Archway Gallery is hosting an exhibition of 30 one-of-a-kind bowls that can be purchased as part of the Empty Bowls fundraiser. The exhibit runs through May 30.