🌈 Why Your Support Matters

Austin Rainbow Theatre exists to amplify queer voices — boldly, unapologetically, and beautifully. We are Austin’s only dedicated LGBTQIA+ theatre company, creating space for queer stories to be told, heard, and celebrated on stage.

But across the country, arts funding is shrinking. Grants that once helped sustain grassroots, inclusive organizations like ours are being slashed or eliminated altogether. And for queer-focused arts groups, the impact is even deeper — we’re often the first to face cuts and the last to be funded.

In a time when LGBTQIA+ voices are being challenged and censored, supporting queer theatre isn’t just generous — it’s necessary. Because theatre has always been a place for truth, resistance, and joy. And with your help, it will continue to be.

Thank you for standing with us, celebrating with us, and making queer art possible.

About Del Shores

The King of Southern Queer Comedy

Del Shores is an award-winning playwright, director, producer, and screenwriter whose work has become a cornerstone of LGBTQ+ theatre, film, and television. For more than 30 years, he has been celebrated for stories that blend Southern humor, outrageous characters, and deeply human truths about family, faith, identity, and community.

Theatre/TV/Film

Sordid Lives (play & film) — creator, writer, and director of the cult classic Southern queer comedy-drama
Sordid Lives: The Series — creator and executive producer for the Logo Network television spin-off
A Very Sordid Wedding — writer and director of the feature film sequel
Southern Baptist Sissies — award-winning playwright and director; later adapted into a feature film
Daddy’s Dyin’… Who’s Got the Will? — acclaimed play adapted into a major MGM film
Queer as Folk (Showtime) — writer and executive producer for the final three seasons
Dharma & Greg and Ned & Stacey — television writer and producer

Legendary Collaborators

Leslie Jordan • Octavia Spencer • Whoopi Goldberg • Olivia Newton-John • Rue McClanahan • Beau Bridges

About Emerson Collins

Emerson Collins is an award-winning actor, producer, director, and television personality whose work has spanned theatre, film, television, and live events. A longtime creative collaborator of Del Shores, Collins has helped bring some of Shores’ most celebrated stories to audiences around the world while building a distinguished career both onstage and behind the scenes.

Selected Credits

A Very Sordid Wedding — producer and starring cast member of the feature film sequel to Sordid Lives
Southern Baptist Sissies — producer and lead actor in the award-winning film adaptation of Del Shores’ acclaimed play
Sordid Lives: The Series — actor (“Max”) and producer for domestic distribution of the LOGO television series
The People’s Couch (Bravo) — featured cast member for four seasons
RENT: Live (FOX) — appeared as Steve in the televised production

Notable Highlights

Named to the OUT 100, recognizing influential LGBTQ+ voices in culture and entertainment.
Co-founder and Executive Director of the Del Shores Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ storytellers, filmmakers, playwrights, and theatre artists.

Glitter Social

A Sordid Brunch with Del Shores