With inspirational quotes from famous superheroes and personal words of motivation on a nearby wall; people donning costumes, masks and capes with their new superhero names, alter egos and superpowers; and a diverse mixture of drag, spoken word, song, dance and burlesque, it was easy to see Columbia and Common Ground were getting in the spirit for Chicago Gay Pride Weekend early this year with a new take on celebrating the queer community’s fierce spirit.
Common Ground kicked off its seventh annual Gender Fusions event on April 16 at Stage Two, in the 618 S. Michigan Ave. Building, with this year’s theme as the “Super Queer-O Spectacle,” a queer spectacle of superpower proportions. According to its website and mission statement, Gender Fusions aims “to produce an annual performance event that creates a queer cultural space and forges a strong, active, vibrant queer community at Columbia College Chicago.”
The guiding principals of Gender Fusions are to create queer and trans visibility on Columbia’s campus, initiate thoughtful dialogue, build bridges among queer students, faculty and staff and draw upon the larger Chicago and national queer community to “infuse, energize and catalyze Columbia’s creative and critical community of learners, teachers and workers.”
According to K. Bradford, coordinator at the office of LGBTQ Culture and Community, the theme this year was “very campy and fun but also tied into deeper community issues around how important it is for LGBTQ folks, especially youth, to have mentors and heroes who help us discover ourselves and find our way.”
Given the wave of gay suicides and spotlight on the community’s vulnerability, Gender Fusions ties into the larger community issues and celebrates the fierce spirit of the LGBTQ community, Bradford says.
Headliners from New York City, Los Angeles and Iowa were included in this year’s performance lineup, along with a separate arts and crafts section for do-it-yourself capes and masks, creating superhero names, food and drinks, the Rainbow League Lounge and a spoken word session from award-winning interdisciplinary artist Daniel Alexander Jones with his drag alter ego, Jomama Jones.
Jones spoke about the importance of heroes, people who can be looked up to for inspiration and how the birth of his younger brother changed his life, and he compared it to being a superhero. He also discussed the influence his favorite superhero, Wonder Woman, had throughout his life growing up and what it meant to change himself by pretending to play Wonder Woman with his friends.
He says the LGBTQ community is fighting for its rights like superheroes fight against the forces of evil. He also spoke about living in the shadows, and when shadows disappear often relates to superheroes disappearing when people need them.
“It’s important to value truth, to be able to tell each other the truth,” Jones says. “To be super in that way, to be brave, to be brave on the inside, to be black and white at once, to be all of our queerness at once in a river that moves and flows. If we can seek that kind of truth, you can hold yourself, all of yourself, in your heart.”
Among other performances in the Super Queer-O Spectacle were Kate Rigg, Lenelle Moise, Kat Wyand, Leslie and the Ly’s, Double DJ, Queerella Fistalot, Misty DeBerry and Miltown Kings.
Tony Jones, junior music major at Columbia, sporting a blond wig, purple-sequenced dress with sparkles and high-heeled shoes, was also part of the performance lineup and sang and danced to a song he wrote called “Bring You Down.”
Jones says he wanted to be part of Gender Fusions because he wanted to show that there are all types of gay people and all types of gender identities.
“We need to show we’re accounted for,” Jones says. “We are here, and we’re queer. They can get used to it. We need to show we are special and showcase why we’re special. For so long, we’ve been hidden and pushed to the side, it’s time to stand up and make a lot of noise.”
In regard to this year’s superhero theme, Jones says he loved it because it was so colorful, and he loved the idea that everyone had his or her superpower and strength.
“We all do have something that makes us different and unique,” he says. “It’s good to embrace that. We can all be fierce, strong and powerful in our own way.”