LGBT writers share their stories at the Festival of Words
I popped into town on Sunday and came home a changed man. Having collected tickets to see Owen Jones at the Five Leaves bookshop I headed to the Nottingham Writers’ Studio to see something called The Outburstables. I’d no idea what to expect and made my way down the ramp towards what sounded like a youth club. Uh-oh. Seeing a bunch of young people larking about and breaking into impromptu singing was not my scene and I was close to leaving when silence descended.
A lady introducing herself as Nicci Robinson said that it was the soft launch of a memoir anthology called Speaking Out. What followed was both devastating and inspirational. Words can entertain and thrill but they also have the power to hurt people and allow those that have been hurt to tell their stories.
OutBurst is a group for young people aged 11-19 who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, or are questioning their sexuality. They took turns to tell their stories. Several of these memoirs were heart-breaking. Tales of sexual abuse, assault, bullying, loss, grief, self-harm, attempted suicide, depression, and hope. These were people that wanted to tell their stories to help others going through similar situations. These were stories that needed to be told.
The venue, that had been full of laughter and song, was suddenly filling with tears. But not those of the young, they were displaying astounding courage, opening themselves up. It was a privilege to be there but also a shock of reality. It’s so sad that these young people have experienced such suffering, and frightening that this can often be due to people’s reactions to their sexuality. This is an important anthology. The disgraceful levels of homophobia and bullying might not surprise you but the way schools, parents, and care homes are ‘coping’ with it certainly will.
There were moments of humour, and the way the group has come together was uplifting, but this was haunting evidence of the power of words, and the courage shown in speaking them.
The anthology will be officially launched at Waterstone’s next month. I urge you to go along and buy a copy.
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