Turning Coming Out Into Performance Art
By Matt Tracy
When Dubbs Weinblatt started
a new show featuring discussions
about coming out, the idea
was partly inspired by their own
coming out story.
It’s just one of the many ways
Weinblatt, who identifies as
trans, genderqueer, queer, and
gay, has come to suffuse their
life with queer-focused themes:
During the day, they work at
Keshet, a non-profit organization
dedicated to LGBTQ Jewish
folks; in their free time, they
use performance art to take on
queer topics.
But it was not always this easy
for Weinblatt to explore LGBTQ
issues in the public light — or at
all. Weinblatt grew up in the late
1980s and early 1990s in a small,
predominantly Jewish neighborhood
in Columbus, Ohio, where
they “always knew inside that I
felt different… but I didn’t know
how to describe it.”
“As I got older, into high
school, it started to really
become obvious,” Weinblatt told
Gay City News. “I always knew
I was gay, but as I got older, it
didn’t go away; it just got more
intense.”
It took some time for Weinblatt
to navigate their own identity.
They felt out of place, and
during their early years at Ohio
State alcohol and drugs helped
them numb that feeling. Those
feelings were compounded
because Weinblatt did not feel
they could turn to anyone to
discuss how they felt.
“I didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t
confide in anyone, and didn’t
even write it in a journal because
I was terrified somebody would
find it,” they recalled. “The only
time I would do it is when I
practiced one day in my car and
had to pull over because I was
crying.”
That loneliness lingered, and
so did the drinking — so much
so that Weinblatt’s peers in college
started to take notice and
express their concerns. Their
roommate confronted the
drinking habits, explaining she
couldn’t constantly keep taking
care of them during bouts of
inebriation.
That was the moment when
Weinblatt finally felt compelled
to come out, but the accompanying
feelings about their sexuality
were so heavy, so intense,
so intimate, and so personal that
it was just too much to actually
Caribbean L 18 ife, Oct. 11-17, 2019 BQ
say it out loud. They jotted down
on a post-it note, “I’m bi,” and
handed it to their roommate.
Their roommate was fine with
that, and it was then that Weinblatt
realized they had cleared a
hurdle — except it wouldn’t be
the final one.
Years passed by, the drinking
continued, and something
still wasn’t quite right. A decade
later, however, they went
to a Lipstick Lesbian Awareness
party alongside that same
roommate and there was a new
light bulb moment. But unlike
the previous time — when they
knew they were gay but were
afraid to say it — this time it
was different. They came to an
entirely new understanding that
their life still was not quite what
they thought it was.
They came to the realization
that they did not, in fact, identify
with their name, their pronouns,
or their body. They soon
were able to lay out their feelings
to family and friends and, over
time, became more comfortable
with their gender identity. They
underwent top surgery a few
years ago and now are embracing
the intersections of being
trans, genderqueer, queer, and
gay. Notably, Weinblatt also
become re-acclimated with their
Jewish identity after grappling
with it when they were not feeling
comfortable with their sexuality
and gender identity.
Weinblatt has since channeled
their own coming out
experience into their work. They
created an onstage show, which
they recently turned into a podcast
hosted by Gay City News,
called “Thank You For Coming
Out,” in which LGBTQ folks
come on and discuss their own
coming out story.
Dubbs Weinblatt (right) records a recent edition of the
“Thank You For Coming Out” podcast with theater teacher
and comedian Scott Austin.
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