The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Kergan Edwards-Stout is an award-winning director, author and screenwriter.

Kergan recently completed his first novel, Songs for the New Depression, which is a finalist for the 2011 Indie Lit Awards. Inspired by his years of working at AIDS Project Los Angeles, as well as the loss of a partner to the disease, Songs for the New Depression takes its readers on a compelling journey to personal awakening.

Shorter works, including essays and short stories, have appeared in such journals and magazines as Huffington Post, Bilerico Project, American Short Fiction and SexVibe, and his screenplays have placed highly in competition.

When Esther Saw the Light, a theatrical production Kergan directed, won awards at the Kennedy Center for both Best Play and Meritorious Direction. The Washington Post called it “Gaspingly funny”, while the Washington Times noted it was a “nose-thumbing comedy worth its weight in sacred cows.” While at UCLA, Kergan was honored to receive the Doris Packer Award for Graduating Senior.

At AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), Kergan headed an HIV education program, giving hundreds of educational speeches, and he was honored to be the keynote speaker for the Louisiana State Department of Health’s Annual Conference. This passion for social justice led him not only to APLA, but to the L.A. Free Clinic, where he created traveling theatrical productions educating teens about high risk behaviors.

In a volunteer capacity, Kergan has organized protests, benefits, and rallies, and the Peace & Justice Speakers Series he created at Church of the Foothills (ChOTF) featured experts from the Southern Poverty Law Center, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Children of Uganda, OC Transgender Coalition, Habitat for Humanity, OC Equality Coalition, OC Food Bank, and Schindler’s List/Holocaust survivor Laura Hillman. Also at ChOTF, Kergan was pleased to bring the controversial and important plays Corpus Christi and Confessions of a Mormon Boy to conservative Orange County.

Furthering his commitment to progressive causes, Kergan was proud to help launch Bright Green Kids, an “all green”, eco-friendly fundraising initiative for schools, where he served as Director of Marketing.

Currently, Kergan lives in Orange, California, with his partner Russ Noe, and their two sons, Mason (11) and Marcus (8).

Kergan was honored to be chosen as one of HRC‘s 2011 “Fathers of the Year.”

He is currently at work on his forthcoming memoir, Never Turn Your Back on the Tide.