Acclaimed playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney tackles issue of gay marriage amid recent attacks on LGBTQ rights

By D. Kevin McNeir Particular to the AFRO

In a up to date slant on Shakespeare’s wedding ceremony performs, Academy Award winner and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, the screenwriter of “Moonlight,” just lately debuted the world premiere of a private reflection on same-sex marriage and homosexual rights, which have come below hearth with the return of Donald Trump to the White Home.

“We Are Gathered,” directed by Kent Gash, is at present open to patrons at Enviornment Stage’s in-the-round Fichandler Stage in Washington, D.C., via June 15. 

McCraney, 44, mentioned he needed to put in writing a play that allowed queer like to shine and celebrated WorldPride 2025, a gathering of the LGBTQ+ worldwide neighborhood. It kicked off in D.C. on Could 17, will conclude on June 8, and coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of Delight occasions within the nation’s capital. 

“A couple of yr in the past I pitched the concept to the creative director of Enviornment Stage, Hana Sharif, as a result of I believed it could be a good way to have fun satisfaction, particularly Black satisfaction,” McCraney mentioned. “She was on board instantly. With that, I centered on writing one thing that may permit individuals to have fun love in a selected manner – a Black queer manner.” 

When requested why the play and its a number of themes communicate to current assaults on LGBTQ rights, he mentioned he felt compelled to face in solidarity with the homosexual neighborhood of which he’s a proud member. 

“After I write, it’s all the time private as a result of the private could be common,” he mentioned. “Given my ideas on same-sex marriage and Black individuals, I hope this play engages your complete neighborhood. I needed to discover what same-sex marriage means right now and to suggest methods during which we might extra successfully and simply have interaction in or take into account homosexual marriage in right now’s world.”  

LGBTQ advocates face two main issues

There are two safeguards in place, a Supreme Courtroom ruling and federal regulation, that make any assault towards same-sex marriage – whether or not from the manager department or elsewhere – harder to realize. Nonetheless, LGBTQ advocates level to 2 elements as causes to be involved. 

First, there’s the conservative make-up of the Supreme Courtroom. On June 26, 2015, within the narrowest of margins, 5-4, the US Supreme Courtroom dominated in favor of same-sex marriages. The Courtroom’s resolution, in Obergefell v. Hodges, stipulated that the 14th Modification requires all states to license marriages between same-sex {couples} and to acknowledge all marriages lawfully carried out out of state. However Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, talking for the dissenting votes, emphasised that they’d prefer to revisit the Obergefell resolution. 

It stays unclear if there’s a court docket majority that might overturn the choice. However ought to Trump make good on his need to extend the dimensions of the court docket, and if he had been capable of change a few of the liberal voices on the bench as they retire or for different causes, he might nominate judges who stand in shut alignment with Thomas and Alito.

Second, Trump’s non secular proper allies might immediate the president to take an official stand towards same-sex marriage. To date, the president has taken the stance that the Courtroom’s resolution was “settled.” However different members of his social gathering, together with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have been adamant of their view that Obergefell was wrongly determined.

Attendees of the play might discover distinctive causes to have fun 

McCraney attended the play’s opening earlier this month and mentioned he’ll most likely attend a number of extra performances throughout his keep within the District – however not for the explanations one would possibly suspect. 

Throughout every efficiency, {couples} of any background who’ve signed up and been chosen upfront could have their marriage officiated by an ordained minister. 

A number of talk-back periods between the forged and viewers have been scheduled, together with one on June 11 that might be moderated by Racine Pendarvis, a local Washingtonian, columnist and LGBTQ activist affectionately recognized inside the Black homosexual neighborhood because the “Excessive Priestess of Love.” 

“Our neighborhood is rather a lot stronger than individuals suspect and we, if nobody else, should all the time welcome and affirm any examples of affection that we discover inside the LGBTQ neighborhood,” McCraney mentioned. “I spent my youth in Liberty Metropolis the place I confronted grief time and again all through my childhood. I survived by pulling items of our ancestors together with me on my journey. 

“For the homosexual neighborhood to stay robust – to outlive – we should have secure locations to assemble the place we will keep in mind the previous, discuss in regards to the current and picture and dream in regards to the future.” 

McCraney mentioned he stays indebted to the elders of the inventive neighborhood, from the famous playwright August Wilson, who was his instructor and mentor throughout his last yr of research at Yale College, to director/actor Kenny Leon, recognized for his in depth contributions on Broadway, and actress/singer/director Phylicia Rashad. They and numerous others, symbolize the ancestors whose lives bear witness to how he conducts his life and his craft.  

“After I was engaged on my BFA (bachelor’s of effective arts) in appearing at DePaul College, and my MFA (grasp’s of effective arts) in playwriting at Yale College, I had lecturers, like August Wilson, who influenced the way in which I take into consideration and work with artists and different creatives,” he mentioned. “Throughout the last yr of August’s life , whereas he was finishing ‘Radio Golf’ , he labored with me persistently and poured a lot into my life.

“There have been many others, some who’re nonetheless alive, who guided me as a younger artist and creating playwright. Now, I do the identical factor to honor August’s legacy and the contributions of different ancestors who’re not with us. I’m who I’m due to the ancestors. They poured the energy of God, which sustained them, in me, in addition to their resilience and skill to be current with our individuals – keys to how we study to really love one other and survive.”