OUTSpoken to present ‘The Year We Thought About Love’

A screening of the film “The Year We Thought about Love” is set for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 23, in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall; it is being shown as part of the University’s annual OUTSpoken event.

“The Year We Thought about Love” is a documentary that goes behind the scenes of one of the oldest queer youth theaters in America, the Boston-based True Colors: OUT Youth Theater. This group uses performance to narrate real-life struggles in order to advocate for social change. The film introduces a variety of stories including a transgender teenager kicked out of her house, a devout Christian challenging his church’s homophobia and a girl who prefers to wear boys’ clothing even as she models dresses on the runway.

Following the screening, there will be a discussion and question-and-answer session with Nick Bazo from True Colors Theater and documentary participants Niccole Williams and Ayden Holliday.

Since its 2015 release, “The Year We Thought About Love” has been screened at schools, universities, and conferences throughout the country and has received favorable reviews for its portrayal of the complex identities of the troupe members. The group that produced the film, True Colors: OUT Youth Theatre, received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Award from Michelle Obama in 2016. True Colors is the first LGBTQ group ever to win this award.

OUTSpoken is an annual speaker series that showcases LGBTQ+ speakers and creates a forum for discussion of LGBTQ issues; this year marks its 12th anniversary.

The Oct. 23 event is free and open to the public. The Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund, the Alliance for Full Acceptance, the 49er Family Fund, Counseling and Psychological Services, Women’s & Gender Studies, the Department of Philosophy and the Center for Professional and Applied Ethics provided support for this year’s OUTSpoken event.

For more information, email Terri Rhodes (trhodes@uncc.edu) or Erica Lennon (EricaLennon@uncc.edu).