SAY GAY PLAYS: A Call for Theatre Activism for LGBTQ+ Rights

SAY GAY PLAYS offers royalty-free short plays by queer playwrights to not-for-profit theatre companies, arts organizations, and educational institutions for local activism and fundraising for LGBTQ+ communities across America.

The initiative was conceived in response to the 2022 passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Since then, more than 520 state bills attacking LGBTQ+ rights have been introduced, with more than 75 becoming law. In 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States for the first time in history.

Voyage Theater Company Founding Artistic Director Wayne Maugans wanted to combat the harmful narratives being used as justification for this discriminatory legislation with theatre activism and solidarity. As Voyage gathered theatre partners and assembled a board of advisors, SAY GAY PLAYS was born.

This May, the first ten commissioned stories about the LGBTQ+ experience for the SAY GAY PLAYS initiative premiered at a special event at the NYU Skirball Center. Now these short plays are being shared with theatremakers around the country for their own events.

This Pride Month, join SAY GAY PLAYS collaborators as they discuss how you can use these LGBTQ+ stories of courage, triumph, and pride as a tool for change in your community — and how the project’s collective impact can help change hearts, minds, and legislation.

Find out more on the SAY GAY PLAYS website

Panelists include:

Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (he/him), playwright
Gary Garrison (he/him), managing director, Provincetown Theater; SAY GAY PLAYS advisory board member
Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (he/him), artistic director, Quick Silver Theater Company; SAY GAY PLAYS advisory board member
Wayne Maugans (he/him), artistic director, Voyage Theater Company; Co-Founder of SAY GAY PLAYS
Lisa Rothe (she/her), theater director; senior lecturer, Binghamton University; adjunct faculty, Columbia University; SAY GAY PLAYS advisory board member
Kathleen Salazar (they/them), associate artistic director, Voyage Theater Company; co-founder of SAY GAY PLAYS

Moderated by:

Amelia Parenteau (she/her), Washington, DC-based writer, translator, and theatremaker

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HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based, peer-produced, open-access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world’s performing-arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected] or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal. View the video archive of past events.