After 18 years of being theater dormant

in New Orleans,

in 1988

quite by chance,

I went to see

Karen Finley perform.

I have not recovered from that experience.

I hope I do not.

When the National Endowment for the Arts

controversy erupted over

Robert Mapplethorpe photographs

and spread

with the attempt

to silence

performance artists

and, in particular,

queer performance artists,

I was motivated

to enter the fray

to make the following

very personal

political point:

Not only

will this attempt

to silence us fail,

but, in fact,

it will bring forth

a new crop

of queer artists

dedicated to

the promotion

and spread of queerness.

I wrote my first performance,

as a result of that anger.

Now, in 1999,

almost 10 years later

I contemplate

my fifth performance!

With my work,

I encourage others to speak up...

to tell their stories...

to pass it on.

Frank Aqueno