Guerrilla theater is not just an opprortunity to showcase sing and dance routines and sketches, it’s also a way to express yourself and let your views and beliefs be heard. Will Hamilton’s presentation of the poem, “God Is Gay” i one of the shining examples of such expression. Coming at the time where Gay rights was reaching it’s boiling point. Hamilton drives home the hypocrity of the right wing christian stance on the viewpoint that God hates Gays, something heard quite regularly in the state of Alabama.
Like many of my contemporaries, I was raised in a christian household. However, the concept of homosexuality was something foreign to me for the first 10 years or so of my life. And it wasn’t until I came to Alabama, that I really became exposed to that type of lifestyle, by way of my fellow APO members. I never had anything against homosexuality, but I oftentimes found myself guilty of framing it as a punchline to a joke. I even used terms like that’s so gay from time to time in my younger years.
After about a year or so into my membership, I began to realize how much I related to the stories they shared in pieces like “God is Gay”. The heartbreak, the ridicules, the hurt and the shame; these were all things I dealt with being Autistic. That was sorta my aha moment in a sense I guess. Having the same struggles and issues but for different reasons.
Because of this epiphany, I was able to really understand all the things going on in the LGBT movement. Everyone wants to be accepted and appreciated regardless of their orientation,sex, race, and ability. This is the point Will drives home humorously and beautifully. And this way it’s one of my all time favorite Guerrilla acts.
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