Steven Reigns (born 1975) is an American poet, artist and activist known for his poetry publications, his work as West Hollywood's first City Poet, his participatory art projects, his LGBT activism, and his scholarly work on Anaïs Nin.
Biography
Early years
Reigns grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. From an early age, he sought refuge from a troubled home life in local libraries where he discovered the writers who would have a huge impact on his own work: Sapphire, Essex Hemphill, Dorothy Allison, Edmund White, Anaïs Nin, Amy Scholder, John Preston and Audre Lorde.
Career
Reigns graduated from the University of South Florida, where he wrote a bi-monthly column for TLW magazine, with a degree in Creative Writing. He also has a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University.
Reigns is a fourteen-time recipient of the Los Angeles County Department of Cultural Affairs' Artist in Residency Grant. He was elected as West Hollywood's inaugural City Poet for a two-year term beginning in October 2014. He was selected as "Someone to Watch in 2015" by The Advocate Magazine. Reigns was selected for a City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship in 2020.
Library activism
Reigns has cited public libraries and librarians as a major influence on his development as an artist and activist. He has campaigned in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer programming in libraries.
In 2004 he organized 'Loving in Fear', an LGBQT literary event in response to Hillsborough County's lack of gay, lesbian, bisexual or queer programming. He recounted the experience in a Watermark Magazine article about National Library Week. He was the first to speak to the commissioners about their discriminatory policy at the library.
He was Literary Director for The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Center of Tampa for two years.
Reigns has been keynote speaker at Rollins College, Stonewall Library, and at the American Library Associations Annual Breakfast. He facilitates the monthly Lambda Literary Foundation Book Club.
HIV/AIDS activism
Reigns worked as a certified (in Florida and California) HIV test counselor for over 10 years, testing more than 9000 people. He contributed to a panel with Los Angeles County on standards of care for HIV. In 2011, he ran a support group that utilized film as a projective tool at Being Alive.
In 2012, he published an essay in Frontiers Magazine on the need for new AIDS narratives in cinema and literature. He published a poem about the so-called AIDS "Patient Zero" Gaëtan Dugas and in 2018 hosted an event at West Hollywood Council Chambers discussing Dugas’ legacy.
Reigns participated in a staged conversation about Keith Haring with Ann Magnuson at The Broad for World AIDS Day 2022.
Artistic projects
The Gay Rub
Reigns created The Gay Rub, a participatory art project in 2011 and has curated the project ever since. The Gay Rub is a collection of rubbings taken from historically significant LGBTQ public markers, memorials, and monuments. Participants from around the world contribute rubbings of markers from their home city, along with commentary. There are currently more than 200 rubbings in the collection, which has toured major universities. The collection is the subject of The Gay Rub: A Documentary (2018) by Michael J. Saul.
Other art projects
Reigns has participated in several collaborative online projects, such as Heather Champs' Mirror Project and Anni Holm's Getting My Name Out There. He was also a character in Hilary Goldberg's In The Spotlight.
His artwork has been shown in galleries throughout the U.S.A including at The Advocate gallery part of Rainbow Gobblins exhibit in May 2007.
From 2007 to 2014, Reigns undertook a 7 years living/art project under the mentorship of Linda Montano, S(t)even Years.