Inspired by the Vagina Monologues, the Coming Out Monologues brought together an enthusiastic crowd at the Barn on Thursday night. The event celebrated the LGBT community’s experiences and contributed to the National Day of Silence through monologues performed by various UCR students regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

Headed by co-director Jason Yuen, a slideshow started off the night as Bruno Mars’ “It Will Rain” played in the background. Each slide contained a short story or quote from someone who has been silenced because of their identification with the LGBT community. The program consisted of 11 performances split into two acts; the first act geared toward coming out to crushes, co-workers, and the like, while the second act focused on coming out to one’s family.

Scarlett Parker performed the first monologue “Dear Susie” by Andrea Myers, which recalled the narrator’s disillusionment while listening to several council members’ comments during a gay rights ordinance meeting. Some of the council members insinuated that homosexuality is a choice. Toward the end of the monologue, Parker revealed that she disagreed with those who believed homosexuality to be a choice and confessed to her lover Susie that, “Even if homosexuality was a choice, I would still choose you.”

Humor played a large role in many of the monologues. Performer Tammie Tran incited much laughter through her self-written monologue “Rachel” and “Therapy Thursday’s” by Emma Mishel. The piece, “Rachel”, centered around the speaker’s crush on her straight female friend as she debated on whether or not she should confess it to her. In the end, she decided to tell her. In “Therapy Thursday’s,” which came during the second act, the speaker took advantage of her parents’ ignorance regarding her homosexuality by hosting sleepovers with her secret lovers. The audience chuckled when the speaker’s mother finally realized why her daughter had previously requested for a queen-sized bed and a lock on the door.

Darker themes also dominated a few of the performances, including the anonymously written “Form,” performed by Heather Sosa. The monologue describes the experiences of a transgender individual who began life physically as a male. The narrator was viciously beaten for dressing in female clothing as a teenager and now seeks a counselor in looking at the options for transitioning into a woman. In Johnathan Fiske’s “Inner Sun,” performed by Eve Bell, the speaker contemplates suicide after suffering his parents’ constant refusal to acknowledge his true identity as a male. The monologue eventually took a positive turn when he came out to his friends and learned that they all support him. He later gained acceptance from his parents after they realize how happy he had become.

After Yuen announced that the audience’s donations to the LGBT student scholarship organization amounted to $69, a raffle successfully concluded the event. Each attendee received a raffle ticket when entering the venue, while those who donated to the organization received an additional ticket. Raffle winners received prizes such as a “Sex and the City” DVD and a “sexy-time bag,” which included condoms and more. The grand prize was a decorated toaster, a tradition of the Coming Out Monologues. As explained, even the toast “comes out.”

With its inception at UCR in 2007, The Coming Out Monologues continues to honor the diversity present everywhere. Its performers tread through a range of emotions to convey the stories of those who have struggled with their identity.