Honoring the proud histories of queer and disabled communities

One of the queerest ways to spend Pride Month could go like this …

You decide to go to the theater one night. You scan the ticketing site for a show and land on one about lesbian identity, struggles, and culture in Singapore. It’d be no fun to go alone, so you invite your queer friend group. They enthusiastically say yes. On the night of the performance, you dress as your most bisexual femme self, in a pink dress and pink glittery makeup, harkening to the Pride rally in Singapore known as Pink Dot.

Sound fun to you? That’s exactly what I did.

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I didn’t realize what the true form of Wild Rice’s “Girls Girls Girls” was until the show began. I knew it was based on interviews from real-life lesbians and an oral history project, per its description on the theater company’s website. But somehow, I didn’t know those interviews wouldn’t be presented through a synthesized original plot; instead, they were shared verbatim. It was an inspired creative choice to use the cast of five women as avatars and oracles through which the interviewees spoke — reminiscent of the Ancient Greek traditions Sappho was raised in.

When I’m at shows this special, my brain splits into three parts: First is the part of me that’s present with my friends, enjoying the moment. Second is the student of the arts, who desires to absorb every creative detail she possibly can to further her own crafts. Third is the SMA advocate who keeps an eye out for events to share in her column and for motivation to continue her own advocacy.

Disability Pride Month is assigned to July, the month after Pride Month. For those of us who occupy both identities of queer and disabled, neither the heavier workloads nor the heightened celebrations will stop for a while yet. And there are always lessons and goals these two communities share.

A sisterhood of traveling wheelchairs

As soon as it concluded, I immediately wished I could stage a play for Singapore’s disability arts community that’s similar in spirit to “Girls Girls Girls.” By giving actors multiple roles based on lesbians from all walks of life, you got to see each performer’s skill and prowess. It’s rare for disabled actors to book one role, let alone get to stretch their wings through a series of them in one go.

Critically, by putting a collection of stories into a single show, you sidestep the problem of making swaths of the community feel left out and underrepresented. You show that an identity, label, or shared struggle does not equate to a monolith. The lessons of our elders can meet the missions of our youth.

Of course, it may be more difficult to replicate the approach of “Girls Girls Girls” for a play about disabled figures. One segment of the show featured the story of Theresa Goh, a former Paralympic swimmer with spina bifida who brought home a bronze medal for Singapore in 2016. Because there were no actresses with visible disabilities on stage, she was represented by someone who appeared nondisabled but used a wheelchair as a prop.

The constraints of the play’s format became apparent. What do you do when you can only work with a limited cast and none of them share a disability with their role? Do you erase that role altogether, committing the very crime your play purports to be against? Do you cast a disabled actor for that role alone? What if no trained disabled actors with the role’s disability exist in the community you live in, as is possible in Singapore?

My friends and I debated those questions at the stage door. No answer was fully satisfactory.

Still, the fact that I get to ask those questions now is such a gift. Provoking thought in terms of taboos, craft, and advocacy is exactly what good theater is supposed to do. And maybe I will have the opportunity to answer those questions someday, to carry on this ancient tradition we call theater and add to the oral histories that have been passed down to me, whether for the SMA community specifically or for the disability and queer communities at large. For now, I will celebrate “Girls Girls Girls” and other plays like it, and bask in the poetry that is the intersection of my disabled and queer identities.

Happy Disability Pride Month.

Note: SMA News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of SMA News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to spinal muscular atrophy.