Tell readers about yourself (education, profession, etc.)
My name is Scott Mena. I was born in Sleepy Hollow, NY in September of 1986. I spent most of my childhood there and moved to Deltona, FL on January of 2000. I attended Pine Ridge High School in Deltona from 2001-2005. Since then, I did a lot of community theater and worked at the Orange City Regal Theater and the Seminole United Artist Theater (which both aren’t around anymore). Then in 2010 – 2012 I served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at Colorado Denver North Mission. It was an incredible experience doing so much service and tons of walking. I got to meet so many people. Upon returning, I went into acting in short films for Full Sail, UCF, Valencia, and independent filmmakers. I got discovered by BMG Talent and booked my first commercial for Mitsubishi Heating and Cooling. My seven short films have been official selections to numerous film festivals. I’ve also directed award-winning short films: A Walk to Breathe, No Vuelvo, Talking to Myself, and 12:36. I also develop, direct, film, and edit ads for non-profit organizations and other companies with Mena Productions.
I remember wanting to be in movies. I was heavily inspired by Tim Burton’s Batman film from 1989. I would jump off my couch and land on my face. It didn’t stop me because I would go up the stairs and jump down. Let’s just say that mom didn’t want me to watch the movie for a while. When I told my mom that I wanted to do what child actors do in film, she would tell me that most of the kids who are in the business have tough lives. So, I didn’t really get into any performance until I moved to Middletown, NY.
I remember wanting to film. I would play MovieMaker on my aunt’s PC all the time and one day she let me borrow her camera. A tree had fallen in our backyard and I thought of making a news broadcast of the hurricane that toppled our tree and thus started my film The Forbidden. What was supposed to be a 30-minute short turned into a 70-minute movie.
I even continued filming while we moved to Florida in 2000. My whole family was involved and it was such a fun time. In high school I tried to make another feature film but my footage for some reason erased in the classroom and I instead made it into a short film called Rest in Peace. I decided to enter it to as many film festivals as I can after I graduated and it got into the Flint Film Festival and the Scene First Film Festival. This was the first time I got a taste of the Film Festival experience.
Since then, I always submit my work to Film Festivals. What made Flagler Film Festival great was that it was the first fest that accepted my short film Deadtona right after I came back from my two-year mission. It was so nice getting to meet Kathryn and James Barry who selected all my films since then. I’m forever grateful for them giving my work a platform to be viewed by others.
It means a lot. I was thinking so much about doing it and during my trip to Tallahassee with DeLand Pride, my friends Heather McLean and Aaliyah Nouveau told me I should try it. I was worried about how busy I would be but something in me told me to do it. The way the political climate was, I worried if there would be a pageant the next year. So, I did it having in mind the community I’ve learned to love. I’ve been so involved with DeLand Pride ever since I walked into their open house meeting early last year and wanted to do more.
I’m gay and I am lucky to accept that even though I went through so much inner turmoil even wanting to end my life. But after I got help from my family and church leadership, I got myself in a much better place and I wanted others to feel accepted and loved like I did no matter who they are.
Along with DeLand Pride, I have also been super involved with Pflag Orlando. They helped me during COVID and allowed me to have a safe space to open myself up and learn more about my LGBTQ+ community with their stories. I help them in as many activities as I can. I’ve also been attending other events and groups that are LGBTQ+ and want others to feel accepted even if things are hard in our state of Florida. I also plan to do more LGBTQ+ stories and currently filming my documentary about my experience being gay and going on a mission and the journey it took to go and where I am now. I hope this documentary opens people’s eyes and see the struggle we go through but also how we are survivors for persevering over our own demons of unacceptance.
I think the emotions are mixed due to the lack of understanding and education on the LGBTQ+ community. During the time I went to Tallahassee to speak up against the bills of Gender Affirming Care, I learned so much from the people who were actually taking it and the youth who rely on it. People complain about how it is hurting children. If you look at commercials on medicine, they list a whole bunch of side effects including death. So, what makes it different when it comes to Gender Affirming Care? If you hear the stories of how it has saved them from wanting to end their life, it really changed my mind on it. To take away something that is helping you feel like yourself is very heartbreaking.
I also attended the Drag Queen March in Tallahassee as well because I didn’t agree with the way the Drag Community was being treated. After helping film and photograph Drag Shows at Davinci’s in DeLand, I got to learn so much on their artform and made me appreciate what Drag Queens, Drag Kings, and Drag Entertainers do. With all the events that DeLand Pride and others have held that involved children, they were about lip-syncing to Disney songs and positive messages. There was nothing that was sexually explicit or inappropriate shown in these events. So, before we marched up the Capital, we had Drag queens share their stories of how they found community and their love of performing. It reminded me of finding my love of theater when I was 13 and loving it ever since. To have someone restrict you of doing that is unfair. Walking up to the Capital with red shirts covering the streets was so historical. I could believe how many red shirts covered the front of the Capital that day. I’m so grateful to have been there to support my community and I continue to do so now.
I think we can ensure that everyone has a voice at the table by making people feel accepted. I believe in the power of using pronouns. Sure, it’s hard for someone who has been using “he or him” pronouns for a duration of their life and changing to “them” pronouns. Many even complain about the grammar not being right. But in the end, don’t we want to be respectful like we would like to be respected. I feel that pronouns are a great tool to make others feel wanted and learning. I tell my friends to try to work on the pronouns of your friends and family first. If you get to know others with different pronouns, then adapt if you can. Also don’t assume their pronouns, just ask. People in my community appreciate it when you do. If you make a mistake, correct yourself. People appreciate it when you try. I know youth expect us to know their pronouns like lightening sometimes. Just be patient with them and keep trying.
I would also say that people who don’t know the stories of friends and family that are LGBTQ+ should ask them about their experiences. Engage in the events they attend and learn from their stories. Many times, people can see that we aren’t as different as others are led to think. I learned so much about my wonderful trans community by attending Pflag meetings and also asking friends about their journey. Honestly, I invite everyone to go to a Pflag meeting and get to hear the stories of our beautiful community and how many of us have made it through our personal hardships.
When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my talent portion of the pageant, I knew that it had to be personal. I didn’t want to do something that wasn’t meaningful. Since I knew I was going to be going back to Colorado to revisit people from my mission trip, something inside me told me I should talk about that. So, the idea of showing my story of my mission and not doing a version of The Book of Mormon Musical was really important. I did so much preaching but above that was so much service. That’s why in my talent, I pantomimed painting the fence, helping someone move, or help someone with their lawnmower. Then I felt like I needed to share the belief that I thought my mission would somehow make me straight. I thought that would be my answer until I realized that throughout the whole mission, I never really changed at all. I still felt the same.
On the stage, I really choked up when I said, “Does he want me to suffer like this”. It hit hard because I thought for years that being gay was just a phase and would go away.
But when I came to realize that there’s nothing wrong with me, it was a realization that I had three years ago before COVID. During a meeting, there was something that told me to talk to people that were close to me about my journey. At that time, only my immediate family and a few bishops who helped me over the years knew. The more I shared my story with family members and friends, I realized that there wasn’t anything I needed to change. What I need to change was thinking that I was not worth it, that I needed to be here to help others.
In the talent portion where I transition to Theater Guy, it represented who I am now. Theater Guy to me represents an everyday person who works at the theater but loves everything about books, films, tv, and stage. I also wanted him to represent the community which is why I came out publicly in 2021 on June 1st, the same day I would do the pageant. So, it was a Happy Birthday in a way. The song I used from Mary Mary called “Get Up” was actually a song I heard in my mission so many times and has a very special place in my heart. To combine so much of myself in less than 6 minutes on the stage really shows how far I’ve come.
I also haven’t performed in Athens for 10 years. It was a nice reunion to take the stage in a big way being Theater Guy. I knew the message of accepting yourself for who you are hit the audience when my friend Torry Savage and others came up to me and were moved by my talent portion. I was so happy that the audience understood the message I was trying to convey. I was also so blessed to have my dancers Cristina Perez, Austin Hoyt, Eli Lemoine, and Elijah Alexx perform onstage with me. They were so patient with me even though I wasn’t a choreographer. Austin helped figure out some missing chorography and helped to clean up the movements. I also had help from my friend, Bee Wakelin who had just finished doing their musical Serve for the Gawds at Orlando Fringe. They gave me some ideas to polish the performance. I’m so thankful to have the help of others and most of all that things went well for that performance even if I had a moment trying to get my bow tie on. Nonetheless, it finally clicked together and the rest is history!
