The Year We Thought About Love

UNC Charlotte will be holding its annual OUTSpoken event on Tuesday, October 23rd with a screening of the film “The Year We Thought about Love.” This documentary goes behind the scenes of one of the oldest queer youth theatres in America, the Boston-based True Colors: OUT Youth Theater. This group uses performance to narrate real-life struggles in order to advocate for social change. The film introduces a variety of stories including a transgender teenager kicked out of her house, a devout Christian challenging his church’s homophobia, and a girl who prefers to wear boys’ clothing even as she models dresses on the runway. This film conveys the courage and strength these young people must have to be out and true to themselves. Following the screening, there will be a discussion and question-and-answer session with several of the film’s stars. 

Since its release, “The Year We Thought About Love” has been screened at schools, universities, and conferences throughout the country, and has received favorable reviews for its portrayal of the complex multiplicitous identities of the troupe members. The group that produced the film, True Colors: OUT Youth Theatre, was also presented with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Award by Michelle Obama in 2016. True Colors is the first LGBTQ group ever to win this award.