Hello fellow illustrators!
I’d like to inform you about a project that I have been working on called “A Picture For A Thousand Voices.” Through all the constant talk about the gay marriage amendments across the country, I feel like there has been very little conversation about WHY the LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) equal rights movement is important. I’ve even had friends of mine who support gay rights ask me “If a civil union can afford all of the same rights as a marriage, then what’s the big deal if the name is different?” The point that I would like to make is that marriage equality is not the end goal of the equal rights movement, it is merely a stepping stone. The road to equality means something different to each individual across the country as part of a move towards acceptance and equal treatment within the community.
“A Picture For A Thousand Voices” is a project that seeks to help establish a dialogue between members of the LGBT community and the straight community about why the equal rights movement is a fight worth fighting. Since words have often been falling on deaf ears, I would hope that perhaps through art and illustration, these ideas can be better understood by both the straight and LGBT communities.
That’s where you all come in! I want to invite you all to participate in this project by asking someone you know who is gay or transgender (or yourself, if you are gay or transgender) what they hope to see achieved in the fight for equal rights, and creating a piece of illustration to convey this hope. If you don’t know someone you can ask, send me an e-mail and I’ll help you find someone. Also, if you don’t feel that this is a fight worth fighting, I ask you most of all to start this dialogue with someone. Whether it changes your mind or not, at least you will understand someone else’s point of view. I hope that this can be a way for you all to use your talent as visual communicators to help educate those who might not have heard these ideas in the past!
If you are interested in participating, please send me an e-mail at evan@evanturk.com or at turke970@newschool.edu.
The idea of equal rights is about understanding others, not just tolerating them. If we can show others, and remind ourselves, why this fight is important, it will be that much easier to win.
Thanks everyone!
Sincerely,
Evan Turk
Here is a link to the blog: http://picturefor1000voices.blogspot.com/
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