The Theater Offensive Encourages You to #VoteOffensively

The Theater Offensive launches #VoteOffensively to support queer and trans people of color issues and participation in the 2020 national election

BOSTON, September 15, 2020 ⁠— The Theater Offensive (TTO) announces the launch of #VoteOffensively, a queer and trans people of color creative voter engagement initiative. #VoteOffensively is a cultural organizing and movement building campaign that uses the creative process to increase queer and trans civic engagement and voter participation. The Theater Offensive will produce two #VoteOffensively virtual events that emphasize collaboration, creative expression, and civic dialogue.

#VoteOffensively presents an opportunity for TTO’s organizational, artistic, and audience expansion it grows into a new role as a civic leader.  In 2019, The Theater Offensive released an updated mission statement: to “present liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression.” TTO’s Producing Co-Executive Director Harold Steward says, “#VoteOffensively advances our new mission while staying true to our core. This project also allows us to include community organizations, community members, artists, and youth in one unified effort—a new opportunity to bring all of our stakeholders together.” #VoteOffensively is especially relevant now, in light of the 2016 presidential election in which voters of color were notably disenfranchised.  

#VoteOffensively will begin by inviting community members  to participate in Queer and Trans Voting Story Circles on September 22. At this event, participants will bear witness to queer and trans issues and policy considerations through facilitated story circles. Following this, audiences are invited on October 1st to ID Monologues, a new production centering testimony and stories from QTPOC who must navigate  ID disenfranchisement laws. These stories encourage us to imagine proposing and enacting legislative and policy changes at any level of government and to work towards a world where QTPOC existence is freed from oppressive legislative process. Election information and resources and voter registration will be provided at both virtual events. 

#VoteOffensively is a part of MASSCreative's Create the Vote, a non-partisan, grassroots campaign focused on increasing civic engagement and strengthening our democracy. The Create the Vote Steering Committee is led by MASSCreative, MassVOTE, and The Theater Offensive in collaboration with ArtsBoston, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Dunamis, Elevated Thought, Front Porch Arts Collective, Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition (MALC), the New England Museum Association, and StageSource.

#VoteOffensively is sponsored in part by The Barr Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Boston Cultural Council.

 Queer and Trans Voting Story Circles

September 22, 2020

7:00 to 9:00 PM ET

Zoom Event

Want to share a story about your voting experience while engaging in deep listening and community building? TTO invites our community to participate in facilitated story circles that bear witness to queer and trans issues and policy considerations. Through storytelling, listening, and civic dialogue, Queer & Trans Voting Story Circles will deepen our understanding of the shared dreams and desires related to voting that are important to participants as queer and trans people. Join the Theater Offensive on September 22 at 7 PM. This event will not be broadcast to Facebook or Youtube, as it is a cultivation and community conversation. If you are interested in taking part, please RSVP through Eventbrite, and the Zoom room link will be emailed to you the day before. Election information, resources, and voter registration will be provided. 

ID Monologues

October 1, 2020

7:30 - 9:00 PM ET

ID Monologues is a new production centering testimony and stories from QTPOC who must navigate Voter ID laws and other forms of disenfranchisement. ID Monologues will use a queer and virtual adaptation of Legislative Theater methodology to examine how QTPOC interact with Voter ID laws and the effect that navigating these complex legislative systems and barriers has on their existence and communities. Their stories encourage us to imagine proposing and enacting legislative and policy changes at any level of government and to work towards creating a world where QTPOC existence is freed from oppressive legislative process. This event will be broadcast on YouTube and Facebook.

About The Theater Offensive

The Theater Offensive (TTO) is a social change organization that uses theater and the creative process to deconstruct oppressive practices and policies to liberate queer and trans people of color. TTO grew out of the queer guerilla street theater troupe, United Fruit Company, and was founded in 1989 by Abe Rybeck and other activists in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Since its founding, TTO has become the lead presenter of LGBTQ theater in New England and continually supports the creation of new and original work. 

Today, the organization’s mission is to present liberating art by, for, and about queer trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression. TTO employs groundbreaking, interactive artistic programming to discover and promote works by queer and trans people of color. TTO also creates thought-provoking programs, including educational programs, youth-centered leadership programs, community-led artistic experiences, and people-powered civic engagement opportunities.

About Create the Vote

Create the Vote is a non-partisan, grassroots campaign to engage voters and candidates for office in Massachusetts on the vital role that arts, culture and creative expression play in improving our schools, strengthening our economy, and building neighborhoods where people want to live, work, and play. MASSCreative has collaborated with arts and culture advocates on Create the Vote campaigns in communities across the Commonwealth since 2013, when its inaugural campaign elevated arts and culture issues during the 2013 Boston mayoral election. Since then, Create the Vote campaigns have supported local advocacy efforts to encourage candidates to develop cultural policies for their cities, towns, and school districts, and to lead by example by convening community leaders on the arts and by attending arts and cultural events.

The Create the Vote 2020 campaign focuses on increasing civic engagement and strengthening our democracy. Led by MASSCreative’s Create the Vote Steering Committee, the campaign will use art and culture to develop creative strategies to register people to vote, educate voters about casting ballots by mail, getting people to participate in the electoral process, advocate for safer in-person elections, and turning people out to vote. The Create the Vote Steering Committee is led by MASSCreative, MassVOTE, and The Theater Offensive in collaboration with ArtsBoston, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Dunamis, Elevated Thought, Front Porch Arts Collective, Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition (MALC), the New England Museum Association, and StageSource.

About MASSCreative 

MASSCreative works with artists, cultural councils, arts organizations, and the broader creative community to build a Commonwealth where arts and creativity are an expected, recognized, and valued part of everyday life. Working with our coalition of 400 arts and cultural organizations and artists from across the Commonwealth, MASSCreative uses public education and awareness, grassroots organizing, advocacy campaigns, and other civic and political engagement to ensure that arts, culture, and creativity are considered when important policy and political decisions get made at the state and local level.