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Cindy Marcelle is 18 years old and a senior at Middlebury Union High School. She is also the author of Pie, a one-act play about a teenager coming out to less-than-receptive parents. Part of an evening of student productions, the clever, dark 10-minute comedy was enthusiastically received during performances at the Addison Repertory Theater on December 17th and 18th.
I met with Cindy on December 18th. She is an attractive, petite blonde. Her energy is palpable. She has a clever, wry wit that falls just short of being edgy and sharp and she is keenly intelligent and personable in the manner of one who is used to having to accommodate the limitations in those around her. Our conversation follows:
OITM: When did you write the play?
CM: Oh, about three weeks ago. Honestly, I had a time crunch and had to come up with something. I thought, 'This is 40 percent of my grade.' So the play was mostly written in about 15 minutes. (laughs)
OITM: What program are you in at school?
CM: The A.R.T. program -- the Addison Repertory Theater. This is my second year in the program. The performances consist basically of 11 one-act plays that are written by students. Two of them are on more serious subjects, one about teen suicide and mine -- about coming out.
OITM: Did the folks at school express any concern about the content of your play?
CM: No. They were very supportive.
OITM: Would you tell me a little about your play?
CM: Yeah, sure. There are three characters. The parents are Wally and June. They were given those names for obvious reasons. You know, the father is in this suit, and the mother is in a dress and her little apron. It was sort of a combination of the Cleavers (i.e. Leave it to Beaver) and Pleasantville. The daughter's name is Kat. I just like that name. It's funny, but in kind of a horrible way -- black humor. I mean, people are laughing, but at the same time saying, "Those parents shouldn't be saying those horrible things to their daughter."
OITM: What horrible things?
CM: Well, here is the character of Kat, trying to tell them something
important, and they keep interrupting her, changing the subject, trying to make her eat pie -- apple pie. You know, all-American apple pie? They never let her finish.
OITM: What is the first line of the play?
CM: (laughs) "Princess it's time to come out of the closet." She comes out of the closet holding a toaster oven. I think that's funny. Nobody else gets it. She tries to hint around by telling them that she's doing a report on entertainers, Melissa Etheridge, Ellen Degeneres, RuPaul, but they don't get it. So finally she stands on a chair and shouts, "Mom, Dad -- I'm gay."
OITM: How do the parents react?
CM: They try to make it another problem. They say "Are you sick?" "Are you pregnant?" She tells them again that she's not sick, she's not pregnant, she's gay. They start marching around saying it's all their fault because she wasn't breastfed or whatever.
OITM: What happens when they finally get it?
CM: Well, I don't know if they really 'get it,' but the mother says, "We can't tell Gramma. It would kill her." Then Kat says, "Gramma already knows. I told her 2 months ago."
OITM: So how does it turn out?
CM: Well, they end up kicking Kat out. The father does this lion tamer thing with a chair, like "Back, back," but they never really say it's because she's gay. The play ends with the parents slumping in their chairs eating the apple pie.
OITM: I made an assumption that you were a gay student, who had written a play about a lesbian who is coming out. Some of our e-mail or phone conversation led me to believe that you don't necessarily identify as 'lesbian' per se.
CM: No, I consider myself bi.
OITM: What does that mean to you?
CM: Uh-h-h-h, that I am attracted to both males and females.
OITM: Okay, because sometimes being bisexual has different connotations to different people. I'll ask you more about that in a minute. Can you tell me something about yourself?
CM: Well, I was adopted. I was in foster care as a baby. My biological mother was, like, 12 or 13 when she had me. I always knew -- no regrets.
OITM: Do you have any curiosity about meeting your biological mother?
CM: Yeah, but I wouldn't do it unless my mom was totally ready.
OITM: You mean your adoptive mom?
CM: Yeah, she'd really have to be 'there,' you know? I mean she really is my mom and I wouldn't want to make her feel bad.
OITM: You said your mom and dad aren't together anymore?
CM: Yeah, they're divorced. I had this really weird year when I was just turning 15. Within 4 months I had my first girlfriend, my parents split up, my dad made a suicide attempt, and my house burned.
OITM: That's intense. Did you feel like any of the stuff with your parents was related to you coming out?
CM: No. The house burning was kind of related to me, but it was an accident. My girlfriend and I had been smoking.
OITM: That's a lot of stuff.
CM: Yeah really.
OITM: Who was the first grown-up you came out to?
CM: My friend's mom. She was really open and cool. She was like a second mother. Then I told my dad. I said, "Dad, I think I might like girls." He said, "Oh. Well, I like girls too." That was it.
OITM: Did he get it-- what you meant?
CM: Yeah, totally. It was okay, although my step-mother did once say to me that if my step-sister turned out to be gay she would blame me. They even almost didn't get married because of it-- because of me and the gay thing.
OITM: Was it tougher to talk to your mom?
CM: Yeah. Kind of. She is a little more conservative than my dad. I told her the wrong way. I told her during an argument, just like they say you should never do. I suddenly announced, "I'm not a virgin and I have a girlfriend. I had sex with a boy in 7th grade." My mom seemed stunned but tried to cover it up. She was like, "Uh, uh, I knew that. Yeah. I knew that." She didn't know.
OITM: You've been kind of an activist?
CM: Yeah, I'm part of Youth Aware. A group of us talked to Governor Dean about school harassment. It's really bad. There are a lot of different angles to it.
OITM: Have you experienced harassment in school?
CM: Well, when I was going to Mount Abe, the principal was really horrible -- in my opinion. I was walking down the hall holding hands with my girlfriend, and he said, "You can't do that. Stop that. Someone might, well, see that." I mean we were just holding hands. Lots of stuff like that.
OITM: You said there are lots of different angles?
CM: Yeah, things people don't think about. Like the way straight kids use anti-gay slang. Calling each other 'faggot' and stuff.
OITM: Yeah I've seen that, like where one straight guy is calling another straight guy 'faggot,' basically a street way of saying, "What's up."
CM: Yeah, like that. ...or calling each other faggot if they're pissed off at each other. What kind of a climate does that make for the gay kid who is standing there hearing this?
OITM: Yeah, and I suppose someone could argue that since the gay student isn't part of the interaction -- it isn't really harassment of that student.
CM: Exactly.
OITM: You seem to feel accepted by the glbt community and be really comfortable.
CM: (Looking perplexed) Yeah...
OITM: For people who are 10 or 20 years older than you...often bisexual people don't really feel accepted in either the straight world or the glbt community.
CM: Oh, that.
OITM: What do you think about the assumption that a bisexual person could never be faithful, for instance?
CM: Oh, I hate that. If I said I was just going to be with one person, I'd be with that person. The thing is though, I think I would prefer an open relationship, but I'd be honest about it right from the start.
OITM: So what would you say to a lesbian who wouldn't want to date you because you might cheat on her with a guy?
CM: Frankly, I don't think I would ever want to date someone who felt that way. I want to get over my feelings of jealousy and ownership about people. I don't believe in that gender-free love thing either. I AM attracted to the differences, to male and female bodies.
OITM: It sounds like your experience of being a bisexual person in the community has been pretty positive.
CM: Yeah, it's almost trendy. (laughs) My biggest concerns have been with issues of harassment and discrimination for the youth of the GLBT community.
OITM: What do you think are the hot issues right now for young GLBT people in Vermont?
CM: AIDS, safe-sex education, safety at school. My health class teacher was a lesbian and she never brought up using latex gloves, or dental dams.
OITM: If you had to give any advice to people out there in the larger Vermont community, what would it be?
CM: Other high schools should follow A.R.T.'s example and mainstream homosexuality. There's a rich gay history available and we're not using it. We're still not getting it.
OITM: So, for you personally -- what's next?
CM: Well, I'm applying to colleges. I'm applying to a prestigious all-girl's college. (She grins in mock innocence) I have my reasons.
