The gay community is not properly represented in the media, said Emanuel Xavier, an openly gay Latino poet and spoken word artist, in Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium Thursday.

Xavier recited 11 works of original poetry and answered questions from the audience about admitting his sexuality, dealing with the public’s reactions to his controversial poems and the lack of role models for the gay community.

“I hope I can inspire in other people to believe in themselves, to pursue whatever dreams they may have, regardless of their background,” he said.

Xavier started writing poetry in his mid-20s as an outlet for his struggles, he said. His father abandoned him before he was born, his cousin sexually abused him when he was 3 years old, and his mother kicked him out of the house after he told her he was gay.

“Poetry was my salvation to express that anger, express that pain, to sort of let it go,” Xavier said.

Xavier had a fear of testing positive for HIV, and he said he wanted to leave his poetry behind for people to turn to if he were to die. Though he was not properly trained as a writer, he said he wanted to encourage young people to express and be honest about themselves.

Much of the public and his peers support him for infusing religion and the LGBT experience in his poetry, Xavier said. Some of the more controversial works he recited Thursday include “If Jesus were Gay” and “Children of Magdalene.”

Though there are many people who do not agree with his poetry, Xavier said, he is not writing to please other people or make them feel comfortable.

“A lot of the power comes from the realization that maybe I am giving voice to other people who are going through the same thing…but do not have the audacity or opportunity,” he said.

The gay community needs role models to provide that opportunity to speak up.

Though he did not have anyone to look up to when he was a child, Xavier said he hopes the current gay generation has a role model to rely on. He also said he is interested to see how Ricky Martin’s recent announcement will affect other people.

People like Martin will give young people the chance to see they can still be happy and successful, even if they are gay, Xavier said.

Janel Martinez, a senior magazine journalism major, said she liked how Xavier combined his poetry with his speech.

“I thought it was really great that he touched on a lot of topics that, within communities of color, we don’t necessarily discuss,” Martinez said.

Published on April 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm