By Rohan Mattu
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Prominent performance artist and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Miller was invited to speak and perform spoken word pieces at Towson University on May 7 in response to a homophobic attack last semester.
Over the course of about an hour, Miller exuberantly performed deeply vulnerable, sometimes dark, and always humorous pieces. He then took questions from the audience to begin a conversation.
“Towards the end of the fall semester two Towson students were verbally and physically assaulted, they were yelling homophobic epithets,” said Steven Satta, professor of voice and acting. “I thought, ‘Well it’s time to bring Tim in, let’s have this conversation.’”
After spending part of the day working with graduate students studying theatre, Miller took to the Center for The Arts Main Stage at 7:30 p.m.
“We use theatre as a tool for activism,” said Miller, speaking particularly to theatre students in the room. “There’s so much evidence that [theatre] does make a difference.”
Miller was one of the “NEA Four,” four performance artists whose grants were infamously rejected in 1990 under the Bush administration. The grants were overturned on the basis of subject matter. Miller focused on gay themes of his work.
The four won a settlement after successfully suing the federal government with the help of the ACLU. The settlement from the government included money for all defunded grants and court costs.
In 1998 the Supreme Court in National Endowment for the Arts V. Finley overturned part of the decision. The court decided that “standards of decency” are constitutional criterion for federal funding of the arts.
Following the decision, according to his website, Miller vows “to continue fighting for freedom of expression for fierce diverse voices.”
Miller’s timing for his visit couldn’t have been better. Towson again had to respond to hate when right-wing protesters arrived on campus last month, waving signs that promised hellfire to homosexuals, feminists, and Muslims. The university’s student populace responded with an overwhelming counter protest.
“We’re trying to equip the student’s for ‘should this ever happen again,’” said Sotta. “How do you best stand up to these kinds of protests, and what are some steps you can take to really make change?”
Through his performance, Miller recounted his experience as a gay man and activist through the AIDS epidemic, violent homophobia, immigration issues and marriage equality.
“I still have his blood-stained shirt,” said Miller, referring to the friend he watched die by stabbing, his assailants repeating “faggot” as they murdered him.
Gut wrenching though some of his stories were, Miller’s audience was laughing throughout.
“When you’re provoking and prodding people to think about things that might meet some resistance, humor can help,” Miller said. “Humor is one of our most effective connective tissues I think, between us and an audience.”
“If you’re in your 20’s right now, brace yourselves for the next 40 years because Supreme Court justices live a long time,” said Miller, referring to new conservative appointees to the high court who may not be sympathetic to civil rights injustices. “Probably because they have healthcare.”
Graduate students were happy to have the opportunity to workshop with Miller alongside their cohort. They bonded through the vulnerability iller brought to their classroom.
“For me and my peers, Tim brought a closeness that we could not imagine,” said Jamaal McCray, an MFA theatre arts candidate. “Tim’s workshop revealed new layers about each and every one of us, making me proud and honored to know such talented and full-hearted people.”
“Watching his performance live was awe-inspiring,” McCray continued. “I am inspired by his work as a queer artist, especially during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 90s.”
Miller’s message and approach to theatre particularly resonates with the mission of the Towson’s theatre department.
“One of the core features of the department’s mission is engagement,” said Robyn Quick, a professor and chair of the Department for Theatre Arts. “We’re engaged with the community, and we want our students to consider the work we do in relation to the world.”
“Tim’s message is very important to us and has been for a very long time, and it feels particularly pressing at this moment,” Quick added.
The event was sponsored by The Department of Theatre Arts, the Center for Student Diversity, and the COFAC Committee for Diversity and Inclusion.