Colorful voices: Rainbow Alliance hosts annual talent show

At Brandon Benjamin’s first “Rainbow Voices” event his freshman year, he professed his love for a boy. 

At this year’s “Rainbow Voices,” Benjamin, now a senior, read a letter from Peter, a friend and fellow member of the Alliance who passed away in 2013. 

“These are some words to remind you why Rainbow Alliance is here,” Benjamin said as he began the heartfelt reading. 

In the spirit of inclusivity, Pitt’s Rainbow Alliance hosted “Rainbow Voices,” its annual informal talent show. Rainbow Voices offered a space that gave participants a chance to express themselves. 

“Rainbow Voices” follows the International Day of Transgender Visibility on Tuesday, and comes on the Alliance’s third night of its annual Pride Week at Pitt. 

In Peter’s letter, which Benjamin said still hangs on his wall, his late friend chronicled his experience before joining the Alliance, when he was homeless for a time after coming out to his parents.    

“Never forget why you are here,” the letter read, addressing every member and officer of the Rainbow Alliance. “I truly walked into a wonderful group of people at a very special moment.” 

The letter left some members of the audience in tears. Freshman Mikayla Kisner followed Benjamin’s reading with her own journey toward realizing her sexuality. 

Kisner recalled her first steps into the world of bisexuality while browsing the “mature content” on fanfiction sites. Kisner said her mom caught her reading the NC-17 stories as a teenager. Embarassed, Kisner said this started her struggle with her sexuality.  

When she came out to her friends, Kisner said one of them remarked, “Oh, that closet door? It was made out of glass.” 

Michael O’Brien, vice president of the club, encouraged participants and audience members to get up in front of the crowd of about 25 people to tell stories about their experiences with sexuality, as well as perform songs, read poetry, voice a comedy routine and more. 

“We’re all about comfort, but also about visibility,” O’Brien said. 

A self-described “large, proud, cisgendered gay man,” O’Brien enacted a dramatic retelling of the popular Russian fairy tale, “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” the story of Ivan Tsarevich who goes on a quest to find and marry a warrior princess.

The night was a mixture of emotions and laughter with audience interaction.

Like many other presenters and storytellers during the evening, Kisner expressed her gratitude for the community at the Rainbow Alliance and the increased sense of comfort she had after gaining more understanding about her sexuality. 

Between the moments of laughter and tears, Benjamin and another Alliance member, Mark Janavel, burst out with the song “Breaking Free” from High School Musical, which became an acoustic group sing-along among all members. 

As members draped their arms around each other, Sonia Morrill, a freshman English major, joined in singing from her seat in the back of the room. 

Earlier in the evening, she read a speech about finding solace through her experience with Rainbow. 

“I think that’s kind of what Rainbow is,” Morrill said. ”It doesn’t matter if you’re dying on the inside as long as there’s someone else dying beside you.”