INNATELY BEAUTIFUL

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broadcast word warning below*

Producer's Statement

All humans are innately beautiful,
yet all humans are conditioned
by societal rules governing
beauty, sex, pleasure
and relationships.

Society dictates

who is considered desirable,

who is permissible to love,

and even how we ought to love.

As a transgendered gay man I often challenge societal rules that say what kind of man is desirable, and who I ought to love. I have always found myself attracted to different expressions of love and sexuality, and appreciative when I see others challenging rigid rules that limit where, how and with whom we find beauty, love, attraction and pleasure. After all, diversity of love and pleasure is our birthright.

I am increasingly interested in how those of us falsely labeled as undesirable challenge the phobia of diverse bodies, expressions of love, sexuality, and beauty. The voices in this program bring a refreshing challenge to these rules. First we will hear a piece called "Queer Love" produced by Vinni Beachem. Queer Love is a 15 minute celebration of love and relationship in the face of AIDS.

To many, marriage is the epitome of love. Each day, thousands of couples mark their devotion to each other in weddings with a pledge to care for each other "in sickness and in health." Craig Smith and Basil Dean have found love outside marriage with each other. Outsides the bounds of a monogamous relationships they honor their love and the beauty of their relationship. As Craig encounters the final stages of AIDS Basil finds himself honoring the pledge he did not take in marriage to care for Craig in sickness and in health. Basil takes us to experience the intricacies of their relationship, the challenges of losing a soul mate, and the resiliency of their love by weaving a rich tapestry of poetry.

Next we hear the voices of performers from Sins Invalid. Sins Invalid is a performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized. Sins Invalid performance pieces explores sexuality, embodiment and disability, offering a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all individuals and communities. Innately Beautiful features the signing Sins Invalid performer Nomy Lamm, a proud queer femme with disabilities whose songs denote desire, longing, and sexiness. Nomy's signing is followed by "He Has Short Arms," a piece about a very sensual man preformed by genderqueer artist seely quest.

Open yourself to the beauty and experiences of these voices. In their stories you will learn something new about love, relationships, beauty, and yourself.

This 28 minute piece exploring the connections between queer-phobia and able-ism is intended for national radio distribution.

--Kevin Alexander Jefferson
(photo: Nomy Lamm)

* Broadcast word warning. The final poem in this program twice contains the word "ass" referring to a body part in an erotic sense.