Denver’s Youth Poet Laureate Uses Their Voice to Advocate for Queer People

One of the definitions of pride is “a group of lions forming a social unit.” A second definition is “a feeling of satisfaction or deep pleasure from the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated.”

This second definition means a lot to all of us in the LGBTQ community come June every year. One of those people is Denver’s 2017 Youth Poet Laureate, Ayla Sullivan, who describes themself as “first generation Vietnamese American, Black, Filipinx, Chinese, queer, and trans nonbinary.” They are a part of our pride.

Getting to be the Youth Poet Laureate of Denver is no simple task. The talented young artist that gets chosen every two years must submit a portfolio of their poetry as well as a resume detailing their social justice involvement. Ayla’s resume includes sitting on multiple gender-focused panels, teaching poetry workshops as a Minor Disturbance Denver Youth Poetry Team Alum, working on the Chancellor’s Black Student Advisory Council, and being a student leader for Queer & Trans People of Color.

The position was awarded by Denver youth poetry organization Minor Disturbance in collaboration with Colorado Creative Industries, Youth on Record, and Lighthouse Writers Workshop, and in partnership with Urban Word. It includes a book deal with Penmanship Books and a scholarship in memoriam of Russel J. Arkind. As a Denver Youth Poet Laureate, Sullivan teaches poetry workshops, tours around the Denver Metro Area as a youth ambassador, collaborates with different organizations around the city to create more arts programming, and helps advocate for literacy.

A lot of the work Ayla, a theatre and secondary English education student at University of Colorado Boulder, takes on centers around the narratives of queer and trans people of color. That’s a lot to fall on such young shoulders, but being a poet, a musician, an actor, a playwright, and a student, Ayla is comfortable juggling multiple tasks and can handle the added expectations.

When it comes to their work, Ayla writes about love, identity, and, of course, political topics. It is difficult to separate poetry from politics, especially with the diverse intersection of identities Ayla has.

“My mother and my grandparents were Vietnamese refugees that came to the U.S. during the war,” they said. “I feel like so much work needs to be done in my own Asian community on how we have to return compassion to immigrants and refugees seeking asylum for the same reasons our families were forced to leave home.”

When asked about their plans for Pride this summer, Ayla expressed their love for the yearly celebration but also talked about the importance of remembering how tumultuous the last year has been for our community, focusing on the safety of queer people after the Pulse Nightclub massacre.

“I have some political differences with the idea of Pride as of late, particularly because of how Pride has become industrialized and often preaches sacrificing safety for the sake of visibility,” they said.

“Pride is such a beautiful thing, but when we are in a time of so much mourning in our community; I am more ready to celebrate Pride with the queer people in my life I love and admire outside of Denver or Boulder Pride,” they said. “I grew up with Denver Pride before I even came out, but as the city is changing and I am changing, I recognize I celebrate best with people I know I can grieve in front of.”

Ayla’s ability to speak about such a difficult topic for many in the LGBTQ community is fresh and beautiful. It is important in this coming month to remember that Pride is different for everyone, but it started as a community coming together to fight for equality and acceptance. While it has transformed over time, it is still a place for queer people to congregate, celebrate, and advocate.

Ayla is currently working on publishing their first poetry book, title to come. They also have a play, We Are the Wake, set to run next spring at CU Boulder, featuring predominantly queer people of color in the cast.

More recently, they have been working on 30 for 30, April’s Poetry Month challenge. That means a lot of poetry in a short amount of time. You can check some out on Ayla’s blog at saltwaterflesh.tumblr.com.