Out Loud: A History of LGBTQ+ Spoken Word Artists

 

Out Loud: A History of LGBTQ+ Spoken Word Artists


The history of LGBTQ+ spoken word artists is a rich and resilient tapestry of defiance, visibility, artistry, and truth-telling. Spoken word has served as a powerful outlet for queer voices to affirm identity, challenge oppression, and connect across generations and cultures. From Harlem jazz cafés to international slam stages, LGBTQ+ poets have used performance poetry to create community, shift culture, and spark change.

Roots: Queer Voices in Early Oral Traditions

Before labels like “gay,” “lesbian,” or “nonbinary” even existed, people who would now be considered LGBTQ+ expressed their identities through oral storytelling, poetry, song, and ritual. In ancient Greece, Sappho’s lyrical poetry of love and longing between women was often performed aloud.

Two-Spirit individuals in Indigenous cultures were central to storytelling, spirituality, and poetic tradition.

Many global oral traditions had space for gender-nonconforming or queer figures whose stories and songs carried social and spiritual weight.

Mid-20th Century: Coded Language & Hidden Truths

During the early and mid-20th century, queer poets found ways to speak their truths in coded language, private readings, and underground venues. Allen Ginsberg, openly gay and one of the Beat poets, performed "Howl" in 1955—an explosive cry against conformity and repression.

Audre Lorde used poetry readings to claim space as a Black lesbian feminist, her spoken word work as revolutionary as her written texts.

Pat Parker, a Black lesbian feminist poet, performed with power and clarity, often in activist spaces. Spoken word became a political act of survival and defiance in the face of systemic silencing.

The 1980s–90s: Emergence of Queer Spoken Word Movements

With the rise of performance poetry, the slam scene, and queer liberation movements, LGBTQ+ poets carved new, public stages for their stories.


Essex Hemphill: A trailblazing Black gay poet and performer who spoke truth about desire, racism, and the AIDS crisis.

Eileen Myles: A genderqueer punk poet whose readings blurred boundaries between poetry, protest, and performance.

Chrystos: Two-Spirit Native American poet and activist, delivering searing spoken word on colonialism and queer identity.

Staceyann Chin: Jamaican-Chinese spoken word artist whose work centers queer feminism, immigration, and motherhood.

Michelle Tea: Founder of Sister Spit, a queer feminist spoken word roadshow that brought grassroots queer poetry to the masses.

2000s–Present: Digital Platforms, Intersectionality, and Global Reach

The internet, social media, and open mic culture allowed LGBTQ+ spoken word to flourish across borders.

Andrea Gibson (they/them): One of the most prominent nonbinary poets, blending mental health, love, politics, and gender.

Alok Vaid-Menon (they/them): Performance poet and thought leader, exploring gender fluidity and healing through poetic monologues.

Danez Smith (they/them): A Black queer poet whose electrifying performances center race, sexuality, and grief.

Kay Ulanday Barrett (they/them): Filipinx disabled trans poet using spoken word to connect diasporic, queer, and disabled experiences.

J Mase III: A Black trans spoken word artist and educator challenging white supremacy, transphobia, and homophobia through verse.

Open mics and slam spaces like Brave New Voices, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and Queer Open Mic SF became sanctuaries for LGBTQ+ artists.

Themes in LGBTQ+ Spoken Word include:

Visibility and Coming Out
Love, Desire, and Gender Exploration
Grief, Loss, and the AIDS Crisis
Intersectionality: Queer, Black, Brown, Immigrant, Disabled, Femme, Trans
Community and Chosen Family
Joy as Resistance



Spoken word is uniquely intimate and public, raw and refined. LGBTQ+ spoken word artists have used their bodies and breath to Reclaim language, Challenge stigma, Celebrate identity, and Build movements. In a world that continues to police and silence queer voices, spoken word remains one of the most powerful forms of direct expression and community care.

Recommendations

Arts institutions should invest in LGBTQ+ spoken word platforms and residencies.
Schools should include queer performance poetry in curriculum.
Archives and cultural centers should record and preserve live queer spoken word performances.
More global translations and platforms are needed for queer poets outside of English-speaking regions.