Lesbian artists raise money

Emcee Leslie Leasure said into the microphone, "Hi, I'm Leslie, and I'm a lesbian." \n"Hi Leslie," the crowd booms back as though this is some type of group therapy and not the kick off of Gayla II, a celebration of lesbian artists that took place Friday.\nThis year's Gayla played host to 13 lesbian performers from a range of disciplines and locations. The event drew enough people to nearly fill the 130 chairs in the Allison-Jukebox Community Center during the 7 to 11 p.m. blitz of music, poetry, comedy and tap dance. \nGayla II raised approximately $720 from donations, which will be put toward a community gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender center in Bloomington. Outspoken, a lesbian organization that cites philanthropy and mentorship as its top priorities, sponsored the event and is currently turning its dream of a center into reality.\n"We're trying to do things that celebrate lesbian artists and also take that (celebration) and share that with a wider community," said Leasure, an MFA graduate student and active member of Outspoken.\n"I think that there's a lot of negativity that we deal with being gay, and this is the way to kind of celebrate our differences," she said. "It's all about celebration."\nSenior Margaret Belton, who helped organize the event, said combining literary and visual arts mediums for the event was a logical choice based on her interest in visual art and Leasure's interest in writing. \n"The lesbian community in this town is huge," said Belton, who had stuck three silver stars to the corner of each eye to create an artificial twinkle for the occasion. \nBelton works primarily in the medium of sculpture, and she described her work as both feminist and political. One such piece of artwork, entitled "Societal Reject Barbie," features a plastic looking doll figure with full thighs, thick arms and a bulging stomach. The figure wears a glitter red bikini, and the card underneath it cites, among other materials used, "recycled Barbie hair."\nMFA graduate student Sarah Jane Stoner performed her literary work at the event.\n"I'm just really interested and actively involved in creating more queer positive spaces in the world, in general," Stoner said.\nMusician Teresa Long performed a song called "Comfortable" at Gayla, and said she thought it was particularly meaningful.\n"It's about being comfortable with who you are," Long said about the lyrics in the song. "Just taking a stand and saying this is who I am, this is why I am the way I am, and I don't care what you think."\nBelton and Lyuba Bobova stressed repeatedly that they were not professional tap dancers before performing their off-sync number. But the audience didn't seem to care; it still laughed and enjoyed it. \nAttendees to Gayla who got there early enough could receive one of the 30 signed editions of "Gaslight," a book written by author Carol Guess, an associate professor at Western Washington University and a performer at the event.\n"I decided I should be social tonight," said junior Christy McGovern. "That's pretty much why I came, to be social and to see art."\nLast year's Gayla was held at Space 101, a now defunct concert venue, to raise money for "Sexual Minority Youth in the Heartland," a conference held at IU last summer intended for professionals who deal with GLBT youth in the Midwest region.\nAmong other artists, Gayla's gallery showcased a series of black and white photographs by junior Stephanie Shuster. Above the pictures was a series of phrases mounted on a black background. They read, "Gender is not always salient, concrete, black and white. We are not savvy enough to realize the exclusion of one is the exclusion of all … Because only with the equality of condition can this world be a livable and just place"