A Day of Reflection, Pride and Spoken Poetry with Denice Frohman
In memory of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Oct. 11 is celebrated annually as National Coming Out Day. The Santa Monica College Pride Center celebrated by inviting Puerto Rican and lesbian poet Denice Frohman for an afternoon of spoken word poetry.
Santa Monica College students sit in the audience and listen to National Coming Out Day guest speaker, Denice Frohman as she recites a poem on stage at the SMC Student Services Hall. Frohman was invited and is a guest speaker of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department at SMC. Santa Monica, CA. (Ee Lin Tsen | The Corsair)
With help from the Santa Monica College (SMC) Associates, the SMC Pride Center and SMC Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Club celebrated National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 with spoken word poem readings from special guest performer Denice Frohman, a Puerto Rican and lesbian poet.
Frohman is a former Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, and her writings have been featured in The New York Times, the book “Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color”, ESPNW and other outlets. Frohman has also performed at the White House and on international stages across the globe.
Frohman has performed at SMC in the past, but this performance will be her first time performing on campus again since the pandemic struck in 2020.
“I love coming to SMC. I'm in awe of all the students here and of their activism, commitment to community and to creating safe spaces on campus. So it is really one of my favorite schools and universities to perform at and I enjoy it every single year,” she said.
For Frohman, National Coming Out Day is a day of reflection in recognizing the LGBTQ+ elders who paved the way for people in her community today to show up unafraid in the world as their authentic selves.
Guest speaker Denice Frohman answers audience questions after her poetry recital for National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, 2022 at Santa Monica College. Frohman was invited and is a guest speaker of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department at SMC and the performance was held at the SMC Student Services Hall. Santa Monica, CA. (Ee Lin Tsen | The Corsair)
“I also think it's a day of possibility because there are so many queer and questioning young kids who are not out yet,” Frohman said. “I think it's important to honor them and really honor everyone on their journey wherever they are in it.”
The event began with formal introductions of the guest speaker by Professor Yamissette Westerband, organizer of the event and faculty of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department in SMC, and AJ Sohrabi and Lake Garsten, Vice-President and Social Media Director of the GSA. Frohman then took the stage and performed several of her spoken word poems to the live audience.
Frohman’s performance of her poems were raw, unapologetic reflections of herself and her truth. From “Everybody’s Famous in LA,” a poem on life in L.A. scribbled to the metal clanking of burger flipping at an In-N-Out Burger; to “Lady Jordan,” inspired by Frohman’s love for basketball and the heat of the game. She also read “A queer girl’s ode to the piraguero,” reminiscent of an icy childhood treat from Puerto Rico, and “Accents,” a reaction to the way her Hispanic mother was looked down upon when they first moved to the States.
One of the last poems Frohman recited at the event for National Coming Out Day was “Dear Straight People.” The poem came out after weeks of frustration the poet experienced after being publicly harassed by men on the streets for the way she looked.
“The more visible I became the more the harassment arrived. So, I turned that pain into satire cause that’s how I cope,” Frohman expressed, revealing that through channeling her emotions into words and spoken poetry, it gave her power and confidence.
“Coming out is a plural process. It's not a one time event. It's not a singular experience. I was 18 years old when I began my journey to understand my sexuality, and it was rocky and messy but it was mine,” Frohman said offstage after her performance.
Frohman expressed that while it took a while for her to figure out who she was, she is grateful for the time and space she received from her loved ones.
“The first time I came out was in a poem publicly and it was after that moment that I really set in motion a deeper commitment to be authentic, on and off stage,” she said. “Poetry gave me the strength that I didn't know that I would have had at the time and it felt like an invitation to step into my truth, and more importantly, I felt held in that truth.”
Alongside students being apart of the audience, members of the SMC Gender Sexual Alliance Club were also present and expressed their gratitude for Frohman’s presence.
“I think it's a really great opportunity that we can have a presenter come and talk about their experiences as a queer individual,” said Lake Garsten, the Social Media Director of GSA.
Garsten hopes that Frohman's presentation will inspire other students on campus to be more in tune with their own sexuality and gender.
