tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82246730380743794322024-02-20T18:53:30.245-08:00A Picture For A Thousand VoicesLetting illustration tell the individual hopes behind the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. When words aren't enough, let art speak instead.Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-54151978022072931602011-07-24T16:23:00.001-07:002014-03-14T07:13:58.517-07:00Gay Marriage New York!<div style="text-align: center;">
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Today was the first day for gay marriage in the state of New York, and I went down to the City Clerk's office in Lower Manhattan to draw the event. An hour and a half before the office opened, the line was already down the block, so I squirmed my way to the front to get a peek at who was going to be the first legally married gay couple in New York.<br />
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I arrived to find that the two women in front, Erika and Yolanda, were not a couple, but two friends waiting for their partners to arrive.<br />
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Erika's partner Sari arrived fairly quickly, and the two had a sweet, tearful "reunion". But Yolanda's partner, Nancy, was still on her way, and she was starting to get nervous she wouldn't make it with their children before the doors opened.<br />
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She texted Nancy nervously as countless TV crews interviewed the three women, wanting to get a word from the first in line.<br />
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Finally, after working her way through the barricades and police officers, Nancy found her way to Yolanda and the two embraced as Yolanda burst into tears. To me, this was the most beautiful moment of the entire day. It was so touching to see a couple, that had already had their more symbolic wedding in 1997, still be so overwhelmed with emotion on this day.<br />
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To me, that shows just how important marriage equality is. It's not the certificate, or the benefits, or the political implications of it all. I think what matters is finally being able to say "wife" or "husband" about the person you love without hearing a little voice whisper "less than" or "not quite", even when you know it's not true.</div>
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The event organizers began saying that the first couples would be going in soon, so I raced around to the other side of the building to where they'd be making their grand entrance as wife and wife!<br />
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Two women burst out of the building smiling and laughing, to a roar of support from the crowd. Apparently, though, these were not really the first two women married in the city...the first two, were just taking a little longer to get out.<br />
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Then, to an even bigger roar, Phyllis Siegal, 77, and Connie Kopelov, 85, came out slowly, with Phyllis pushing Connie's wheelchair.<br />
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She helped Connie to her walker, and the two, who had been together 23 years, stood at the microphone in front of the press, and showed their certificate proudly (we in the non-press audience couldn't hear what they were saying).</div>
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More couples came out of the doors, happily waving to the crowds as supporters threw rice and glitter in the air, and shouted even louder congratulations any time a protester tried to spew any hate.<br />
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Ah the protesters...I was unsure whether I actually wanted to include them in this reportage, because I feel like it's not even worth engaging their negativity. But I decided it was still an important part of the event, and illustrates the need for this change all over the country, so I did one little drawing. Fortunately, at their strongest, there were only about five protesters at a time. Usually, it was just one angry man with a sign across the street from the building, shouting horrible things all day long. I don't even get angry with them anymore, because to me, it's only themselves they're hurting on a day like today. These people in line are having a wonderful day, marrying the people they love to overwhelming support, and all this man gets to do is stand in one place, shouting awful things, and being ridiculed by passers by. They're not worth getting angry at; they've got plenty of anger themselves.<br />
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The rest of the day was an enormous line of people, wrapping their way around the building, waiting for their chance.<br />
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Happy couples would stroll along the small park across the street, posing for photos and stopping for interviews with the never-ending stream of journalists.<br />
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The couples would often wait in line with their entire wedding parties, everybody dressed up in dresses and suits, slowly meandering through the line.<br />
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For some, it was more than a two hour wait in the hot sun. But when you've waited 5, or 10, or 20 years, what's another couple of hours?</div>
Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-76929970956959887482011-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:002014-03-14T07:15:44.030-07:00Seattle Gay Pride<div style="text-align: center;">
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More from my trip with Dalvero to the West Coast! Our first three days were in Seattle, which happened to coincide with Seattle's gay pride parade! I was very excited to be able to do a reportage of the parade, especially after the gay marriage bill passed back home in New York (yay!), and I wasn't going to be there to celebrate.<br />
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The Rainbow Flag was atop The Space Needle for the second year in a row, as a response to a fund-raising effort by the Seattle gay community for local causes and an overwhelming outcry when the Space Needle announced it would not be displaying the flag this year. As I waited for the parade, I sat next to a sweet lesbian woman and her preteen daughter (who pointed out every mostly nude person that walked by to her mother). It was cute seeing a family that had made Pride (nudity and all) a family tradition.<br />
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The parade began, as New York's parade does, with the sputtering engines of the Dykes on Bikes. The crowd erupted in a roar of cheers as they circled around, studded leather jackets flying in the wind (among other things).<br />
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The Dykes were followed by a troop of drag queens in sky-high platform heels and gothic black dresses. The crowd itself was no less diverse, with it's share of...everything, shouting and cheering as the parade marched down the street.<br />
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Soon after was the familiar explosion of muscley male gyration, rainbow flags, and even more drag queens.<br />
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Some new additions from Seattle were the completely nude, painted rollerbladers and bike riders and another, more "free-wheeling" Dyke on a Bike.<br />
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But just as with the New York parade, for every muscle-Daddy in assless chaps and a leather g-string, there is a sweet moment between two people that are just happy to be out holding hands with the person they love.<br />
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What I love about Pride parades, is that it brings out all facets of the gay community, and makes them visible.<br />
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You can see everyone from young gay boys, who may be out for the first time...<br />
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...to an older lesbian couple who have been together, and watching the parade for 20 years.<br />
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So congratulations to New York on making a huge step towards equality, and good luck to Seattle's gay community! Here's hoping you're next!</div>
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Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-19081098889177097392010-05-21T19:10:00.000-07:002010-06-02T17:43:05.174-07:00Freedom<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">I love Steven so much. If people or the world can not give me the chance and the freedom to continue living with him as my lover, then I am better off to die here in prison. Freedom without him is useless and meaningless.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">”</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-Tiwonge Chimbalanga</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/freedombig.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 363px; height: 264px;" src="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/freedombig.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />****UPDATE****<br /><br />Tiwonge and Steven were released from prison by Malawi's president on "humanitarian grounds." This is wonderful news, and although their future as gay citizens of Malawi is still uncertain, it is great cause to celebrate for them! Hopefully this is just the first step in more gains for gay rights, and human rights, in Africa.<br /><br />*********<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">On May 20th, 2010 in Malawi, two men, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, were sentenced to 14 years of hard labor because they had thrown themselves an engagement party.<span style=""> </span>The official reason for the arrest was for "unnatural acts and gross indecency".<span style=""> </span>The two men did not commit any lewd, public sexual acts or harm anyone, they simply had a ceremony to celebrate the fact that they are in love.<span style=""> </span>They did not even intend the ceremony as a plea for gay rights, they just did not know what could happen to them as a result.<span style=""> </span>Tiwonge said earlier this year in an interview, "I just wanted people to know we were in love."</div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/malawiflag.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 180px;" src="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/malawiflag.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p>The Malawian flag was created on July 6, 1964 when Malawi gained independence from Britain.<span style=""> </span>The flag consists of three colors: Black, red, and green.<br /><br /><br />The black is symbolic of the black African people.<br /><br />The red is symbolic of the blood shed in their fight for freedom.<br /><br />The green is symbolic of nature.<br /><br /><br />Are Tiwonge and Steven any less black? Any less African?<br /><br />Wasn't it also their freedom that was being fought for?<br /><br />Who is to decide what is "natural"?<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The rising sun on the flag is a symbol of the dawning of freedom and hope within the African continent.<span style=""> </span>How can freedom truly be dawning, in Africa or anywhere else, when people are arrested for being in love? What do these symbols mean when they don't apply to every person within that country? What do our own symbols of freedom mean in light of the fact that not everyone can enjoy them?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Read the full article from the New York Times here:<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/world/africa/21malawi.html?scp=1&sq=malawi%20gay&st=cse">Gay Couple in Malawi Receives Maximum Sentence</a><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><!--EndFragment--> </div><br />Writer/Illustrator: Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York<span style=""><br /></span><a href="http://evanturk.com/"><span style="">http://evanturk.com</span></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-87705498668107640012010-05-10T06:09:00.000-07:002010-05-10T06:15:54.476-07:00I Love You<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no<br />right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of<br />rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities<br />(and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Ayn Rand</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/iloveyoubig.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 248px;" src="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/iloveyoubig.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div id="story"><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div id="storybox"><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;"> (From an actual e-mail correspondence between Steven and Torrey) </p><p style="text-align: center;"> all i have to do<br /> is be near you<br /> to escape<br /> to breath<br /> to release<br /> to revive<br /> to find me. </p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;"> all i have to do<br /> is look at your face<br /> and i know that dreams do come true-<br /> for this i thank you.<br /> for this i thank God.<br /> </p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;"> all i have to do,<br /> is look in your eyes<br /> and i know that i have a whole new world,<br /> a new place,<br /> where i am free<br /> where i am loved<br /> where i am safe... </p> </div> </div></div></div><br /><br />Writer - Steven & Torrey - Manhattan, New York<br />Illustrator - Julia Sverchuk - Brooklyn, New York<br /><a href="http://juliasverchuk.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">http://juliasverchuk.com</span></a><br /><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-66217296020810382002010-05-02T19:04:00.001-07:002010-05-02T19:42:20.416-07:00American Dream<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“</span>You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="huge">other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">”</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br />-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="bodybold">Clarence Darrow</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/americandreambig.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 327px;" src="http://picturefor1000voices.com/images/gallery/americandreambig.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><p> <b>Proposition 8</b> was an amendment to the California Constitution which limited the definition of marriage to being between a man and a woman, <b>taking rights away from same-sex couples</b> that had been granted to them earlier that year. </p> <p> <b>The following is an excerpt from the testimony of Helen Zia</b>, a journalist and a lesbian, from the ongoing trial towards the reversal of Proposition 8 and the reinstatement of same-sex marriage in California. <b>The trial was, thankfully, transcribed by the site: <a href="http://prop8trialtracker.com/">Prop8TrialTracker.com</a></b> because cameras were not allowed in the courtroom. Zia describes how her life changed when she was granted a real "marriage" rather than a "domestic partnership." </p> <b>Helen Zia:</b> Difference between night and day having marriage certificate than Domestic Partnership. Suddenly within those six months between time we were married to time invalidated, we had taste of being out of closet, of not being on back of bus. <b>We tasted freedom.</b> Our families related together quite differently. For brief moment in time, we experienced equality. <b>We could go to fountain that was not for Gays and Lesbians only and we tasted water there and it was sweeter there.</b> Our families came together in ways Domestic Partnership could not.<br /><br />You can read the rest of her testimony <a href="http://picturefor1000voices.com/americandream2.html">HERE</a>.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Writer: Helen Zia (Testimony in trial)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Illustrator: Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><a href="http://evanturk.com">http://evanturk.com</a><br /></span>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-746167097377257662010-02-14T06:55:00.000-08:002010-05-02T19:43:15.153-07:00Valentine's Day<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="huge">What is uttered from the heart alone, will win the hearts<br />of others to your own.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">”</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br />-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="bodybold">Johann Wolfgang von Goethe</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/valentine.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 304px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/valentine.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">When you open your heart and show someone a piece of your soul, you have the power to open eyes, open minds, and open hearts.<br /><br />When you allow your heart to be open, you have the power to understand.<br /></div><br />Writer/Illustrator: Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York<span style=""><br /></span><a href="http://evanturk.com/"><span style="">http://evanturk.com</span></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-54689045837877820822010-01-24T17:37:00.001-08:002010-01-24T18:25:46.929-08:00The Heart Has No Borders<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Blaise Pascal</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/laura1small.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 255px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/laura1small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When you draw lines in the heart it breaks.<br />When the heart breaks, it cries.<br />These tears water the hope that we can have love without borders.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/laurasmall2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 259px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/laurasmall2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Only society and its laws try to define lines in the heart, keeping the LGBT community separate and unrecognized. How can anyone limit who we will love and what gender they might be?<br /></div><br />Writer/Illustrator - Laura Vila - New York, NY<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.lauravila.com/">http://www.lauravila.com</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-52659774130237680912010-01-13T20:25:00.000-08:002010-01-13T21:04:40.939-08:00Change<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Wayne Dyer</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/stephanie.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 476px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/stephanie.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.MsoBodyTextIndent, li.MsoBodyTextIndent, div.MsoBodyTextIndent {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-indent:.5in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment-->My family and I are headed to Pittsburgh (go Steelers!) in about two months for a family function and my brother (who’s also gay) and his fiancé will be approaching the often awkward situation of having to rent a hotel room with only one bed for two men. It’s a shame though, that we all have to stay in a hotel when we have so many relatives in Pittsburgh. I mean, there are about twelve different households we could stay in, but instead it’s off to the Holiday Inn.<br /><br />There’s one particular house out of these twelve that I am especially sad to miss out on. It’s the house of my cousin and her husband. They are seven or eight years older than I am, and when I was younger, they were my idols. I wanted their apartment, their hobbies, and their lives. They were young and played roller hockey at midnight and let me drink beer. Now, only a few years later, they have two young children, don’t like anyone who doesn’t speak English, and adore Sarah Palin. Their young boy has to be <span style="font-style: italic;">all </span>boy and the little girl is required to want to either be a ballerina or Elizabeth Hasselbeck when she grows up. The funny thing is, in actuality, the boy is the one who is interested in ballet.<br /><br />Maybe then it’s a good thing to stay in the hotel, rather than stay in a house where a sensitive little boy is told that it’s wrong to cry and the girl is taught to only be a princess. They’re young, and who knows, maybe in ten years they’ll turn out to be the most hetero-normative kids on the planet. For the moment, however, it’s heartbreaking to hear a six-year-old boy whisper, “Don’t tell Dad I’m watching <span style="font-style: italic;">Cinderella</span>. He doesn’t like that.”<br /><br />I hope that some day we can just let the boys dance, and let the girls… well, do whatever it is that girls like to do.<br /><br /><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ></span><!--EndFragment--> </div></div><br />Writer - Anonymous<br />Illustrator - Stephanie Tartick - New York, NY<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.stephanietartick.com/">www.stephanietartick.com</a> (Coming soon!)<br /><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-39974338994186261062009-12-23T15:02:00.001-08:002009-12-23T15:21:03.708-08:00Stereotype<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">There is just one life for each of us: our own.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Euripides</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/rosasmall.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 482px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/rosasmall.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I have recently been discussing with my parents the importance for equal rights. My parents have always been very supportive of me and any partner that I have had, but I do not think they truly understand the need for everyone to be equal.<br /><br />When I was a child I never thought for a million years that I could have a legitimate loving, compassionate, committed relationship with another man. Why would I? The only thing I really saw about gay men were that they often died of aids, they had flamboyant lifestyles, they went to clubs, they often did drugs, etc... The list was not a very positive one and yet I was willing to accept those fates because I knew I was gay.<br /><br />As I trembled in fear in a free clinic to be tested for HIV a few days ago I made up my mind that I would do my part in our society to show gay children now that they never should settle for being a statistic. They have a bright future in this world with another person that loves them for who they are, and do not have to look for that person in every single man that comes into their life. My test results came back negative, but so often that is not the story for people. I want everyone to know that they do not have to fit into a stereotype. Will doesn't actually have to have a Grace! We, as the human race, are so diverse and that is beautiful! We have the ability to do incredible things. Someone's sexuality should never make them feel inferior to anyone else. As our world becomes more and more globally aware, we face difficult problems that cannot be alleviated without the true understanding of human equality.<br /></div></div><br /><br />Writer - Cole Burden - Manhattan, New York<br />Illustrator - Rosa Lee - Brooklyn, New York<br /><a href="http://www.the1104studio.com/pages/rosa/rosa_page.html">http://the1104studio.com/</a><br /><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-71510508225635290762009-11-12T19:00:00.000-08:002009-11-12T19:16:15.913-08:00Normal<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“Normality is the capacity to express your feelings. From the moment<br />that you don't fear to share your heart, you are a free person.”</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-Paul Coelho</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/jackiesmall.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 344px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/jackiesmall.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I hope that, one day, when I decide to start a family and raise children, that<br />none of my child's friends will ever feel<br />the need to question why he has two mommies.<br /></div><br />Writer: PJ Verica - Media, Pennsylvania<br />Illustrator: Jacquelyn Hahn - Jersey City, New Jersey<br /><a href="http://www.jackiehahn.blogspot.com/">http://www.jackiehahn.blogspot.com/</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://evanturk.com/"><br /></a></span>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-25185122138566365722009-10-29T19:33:00.000-07:002009-10-29T19:59:03.310-07:00A Helping Hand<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“You understood that we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear. You understand that the rights afforded every citizen under our Constitution mean nothing if we do not protect those rights — both from unjust laws and violent acts.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">President Barack Obama</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/hatecrimes.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 430px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/hatecrimes.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Intolerance is a funny thing; once someone stands up against it, then more and more people begin to realize it's okay to stand up. This Wednesday, President Obama signed the "Matthew Shepard Act" into law, which extends the hate crime legislation to include those who are attacked because of their sexual orientation. This is both a small step and a big step for the gay community. Small because this is only the tip of the iceberg; enormous because this is not just a signature promoting protection, but promoting hope, equality, tolerance, and eventually, beyond simply being tolerant of differences to actually embracing those differences. Once people can see the tides turn away from hate, they can let the current begin to carry them too.<br /><br />Writer/Illustrator: Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><a href="http://evanturk.com/">http://evanturk.com</a></span>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-11666426624175509242009-10-12T17:53:00.000-07:002010-08-06T16:35:23.628-07:00"I will sing that they shall hear"<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"Equa</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">lity has to become more than just a word."<br />-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Staceyann Chin</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">The National Equality March: October 11, 2009</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 224px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal7.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This past Sunday, October 11, 2009, was the National Equality March: A march on the Capitol in Washington DC demanding the LGBT community's full and equal rights under the law.<br /><br />We were there. 150,000 of us were there. There is no longer any need for any LGBT person to feel alone. For those who were there, the experience was breathtaking, invigorating, unifying, and inspiring. For those who were not there, you can now see, even if it is only on TV, the extent and the solidarity of your community. For the first time on Sunday, I truly believed, without a doubt, that this fight is not just a matter of waiting for the tides to change, but an opportunity to change the tides ourselves, and an opportunity that WILL change the tides.<br /><br />My boyfriend Chris and I arrived in DC not knowing how many people to expect. No one knew how many to expect. A block away, we ran into a group of about 100 people and our hearts sank. This couldn't be it. Suddenly a roar erupted from a block away.<br /><br />There in the park, people stretched on for as far as we could see in any direction, waiting for the march to start. There were people of every age, every race, every demographic, all standing together for one cause.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equality14.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 171px; height: 217px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equality14.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal11.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 176px; height: 217px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal11.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We jumped ahead to wait for the march to begin. Still from blocks away, the chants and screams echoed across the park and onto Pennsylvania Avenue. As the crowd streamed by the White House, it erupted into chants of "YES WE CAN!"<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal9.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 197px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The march poured on down the streets, like a river winding through the capital.<br /><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal13.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 215px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal13.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal15.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 115px; height: 180px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal15.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As the street rounded a corner onto the main drive, we climbed on top of a double-decker tour bus and looked down at the sea of people flooding towards the Capitol.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal16.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 123px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal16.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal12.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 163px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal12.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 120px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 321px; height: 175px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 341px; height: 161px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 141px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal10.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 142px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal10.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We listened to the speeches of leaders, activists, actors, pop-stars, and Judy Shepard, who lost her son years ago to homophobic violence, and inspired the nation to protect their LGBT children. As we all stood and listened, their words echoed from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, to the White House, to every symbol of freedom, equality, and democracy that had built our nation. This is our time to speak, and to echo, and to fight. This is our time to be heard.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 269px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 183px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div></div><br />So now is the time, let your voice be heard.<br /><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“Those of us with the power to speak must speak, must march, to recreate the arc of our own history...Change is not only possible, it is inevitable."</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-Staceyann Chin</span><br /><br />You can watch the rest of her speech here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJYcO0XiGU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJYcO0XiGU</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal8.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 130px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/equal8.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>Writer/Illustrator: Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><a href="http://evanturk.com/">http://evanturk.com</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Title quote from "Were the World Mine")</span>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-38788528026841306662009-10-05T18:32:00.000-07:002009-12-23T15:06:10.545-08:00Understanding<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"To understand everything makes one tolerant."</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Germaine de Stael</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/sara1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 445px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/sara1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">In 1986, at sixteen, I had my first experience working with a therapist. I told him I was there because I thought I was gay and didn’t know what to do. He quickly reassured me that I was not gay and that I was most likely going through a “phase” and had low self esteem. He prescribed rubber band therapy to “control” my “inappropriate” thoughts which involved:<br /><br />A. wearing a rubber band around my wrist; and<br /><br />B. flicking it whenever I had a homosexual thought.<br /><br />Apparently he did not get the memo that the American Psychiatric Association had removed homosexuality as a “disorder” in 1973. Needless to say, the rubber band only gave me welts.<br /><br />I am now a therapist and I look forward to the day that when “being gay” is not the reason someone comes to my office for help. But until then, I will do my best to mend the spirits of LGBT people bruised by ignorance and continue to do my part fighting inequality and promoting tolerance.<br /><br />If only it was so simple to eradicate fear and bigotry with the snap of a rubber band………</div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">From the illustrator</span>-- if only it were. But it's not. It's patience and education and exposure with communication that will eventually eradicate the prejudice. It's like President Obama wrote in his memoir, "<span style="font-style: italic;">The Audacity of Hope"</span>: the point is not to solve every problem, but to make the effort, to engage and increase your understanding of others even if it's just a little. Little by little, over generations, the change takes place as the understanding grows. </span><br /></div><br />Writer - Brett Kennedy - Manhattan, New York<br />Illustrator - Sara Dilliplane - Boston, Massachusetts<br /><a href="http://www.the1104studio.com/pages/sara/sara_page.html">http://the1104studio.com/</a><br /><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-18572484683071194192009-09-28T18:11:00.000-07:002009-10-09T17:03:11.671-07:00"I can't reach you..."<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“All men are created equal.”</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-Thomas Jefferson</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/toddrawson.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 423px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/toddrawson.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />For two people, regardless of their sexual orientation, to not have their union recognized by the highest authority in the land is a breach of civil rights and a tragedy that we as citizens of the United States cannot allow to continue.<br /><br />Writer/Illustrator - Todd Rawson - Manhattan, New York<br /><a href="http://toddrawson.com/">http://toddrawson.com/</a><br /><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-30636683677307096252009-09-18T15:28:00.000-07:002009-10-09T17:08:47.042-07:00I Wonder<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“One of the hardest things in life is having words</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">in your heart that you can’t utter.”</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">-James Earl Jones</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/blog/danielle_small.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 335px;" src="http://evanturk.com/blog/danielle_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I grew up in a suburban town full of traditional, right-leaning people. I came out to my friends and family when I got to college because I was too afraid to come out before then. When I was 16, my father died. He never knew one of the most important things about me. I wonder, almost every day, if he knew...if he wondered...what he would've thought. I hope that soon, we don't have to be afraid to "come out of the closet" so no one ever has to keep that part of themselves from someone they love, and live the rest of their life wondering.<br /><br />Writer - PJ Verica - Media, Pennsylvania<br />Illustrator - Danielle McManus - Westchester, New York<br /><a href="http://the1104studio.com/pages/danielle/danielle_page.html">http://the1104studio.com</a><a href="http://the1104studio.com/pages/danielle/danielle_page.html"><br /></a><a href="http://the1104studio.com/"><br /></a>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-35199755827590490312009-08-02T10:24:00.000-07:002009-10-09T16:50:31.084-07:00Perseverance<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"There is no prejudice that the work of art does not finally overcome." <br />-André Gide</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/audreygay2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 408px; height: 124px;" src="http://evanturk.com/images/audreygay2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br /></span>Equality is achievable if we keep our hopes alive, because the minute<br />we back down is the minute they'll think they've won!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Writer - Mimi Treglia - Long Beach, California<br />Illustrator - Audrey Hawkins - Manhattan, New York<br /><a href="http://audreyhawkins.blogspot.com/" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://audreyhawkins.blogspot.com/</a><br /></div></div>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-82501007578428072092009-07-06T17:41:00.000-07:002009-10-09T16:52:32.515-07:00Love On the Scales of Justice<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">The value of love will always be stronger than the value of hate.</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"<br />-</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> Franklin D. Roosevelt</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/audreygay.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 451px;" src="http://evanturk.com/images/audreygay.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My illustration is about trying to quantify and weigh an abstraction like love. How can the law say that a couple's love isn't valid and in some way not equal to another couple's? We can try to weigh them on the scales, but in the end, it is futile, and it diminishes us. Anyone should be able to have their relationship legalized, if that's what they want.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Writer/Illustrator - Audrey Hawkins - Manhattan, New York<br /><a href="http://audreyhawkins.blogspot.com/" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://audreyhawkins.blogspot.com/</a></div></div>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-52132119946021476692009-06-29T10:56:00.000-07:002009-12-23T22:28:23.836-08:00Pride<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >"What cannot be achieved in one lifetime will happen when<br />one lifetime is joined to another."<br />- Harold Kushner</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/pride.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 368px; height: 225px;" src="http://evanturk.com/images/pride.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Yesterday was the Gay Pride Parade in New York City, and it was my first Pride event. Up until yesterday, I never really understood the relevance of Pride. It was my thought that people already understand that yes, we're here and we're queer, but now it's our job to help them get used to it. And the vocal extreme fringe minorities that I thought of when Gay Pride came to mind, were not the way to do it.<br /><br /><span>After going to the parade, yesterday, my feelings began to change. I began to see that Pride isn't about flaunting yourself, it's about camaraderie. It's about being able to go out and see the overwhelming sense of unity and support that are present in the gay community. Being able to step out anywhere in the city and feel a sense of belonging, and yes, Pride in oneself and one's community, is a wonderful feeling. A feeling that I hope soon, everyone will be able to experience. So although this was only my first Pride Parade, it won't be my last!</span><br /><br /><span>Writer/Illustrator - Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York<br /><a href="http://evanturk.com/">http://evanturk.com</a><br /></span></span></div>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-89631445971242141612009-06-16T13:11:00.000-07:002009-10-09T16:59:50.073-07:00Holding Hands<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/evangay2.jpg"> </a><div style="text-align: center;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >"Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is."<br />- Maxim Gorky</span><br /></div><div face="trebuchet ms" style="text-align: center;"><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/evangay1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 431px;" src="http://evanturk.com/images/evangay1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/evangay2.jpg"> </a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://evanturk.com/images/evangay2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 436px;" src="http://evanturk.com/images/evangay2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"> Even though holding hands is such an innocent and affectionate gesture, it can still inspire great amounts of intolerance and hate. I've been spat at and had insults hurled at me, simply for holding hands with another man while walking together on the street. I've often had to question whether it was okay to hold hands with someone, out of fear of what might happen in the wrong neighborhood. In most places today in Manhattan, I can walk hand in hand with another man and not feel strange about it, but that is not the case everywhere in the country, and it wasn’t always the case here. Some gay couples in the 1970’s were even arrested for holding hands in public in the West Village. Through decades of hard work and perseverance, members of the LGBT community have made it safer for same-sex couples to hold hands, but only in safe enclaves such as Manhattan. It is my hope that through the continuing fight for equality it will always be okay to hold the hand of the one you love, no matter where you are.<br /><br /><span> </span>Writer/Illustrator - Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York<br /><a href="http://evanturk.com/">http://evanturk.com</a><br /></div></div><span style=";font-family:ARIAL;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></span>Evan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224673038074379432.post-32237523617464736702009-06-16T12:47:00.000-07:002009-06-21T10:39:32.615-07:00Welcome!Hello and welcome to "A Picture For A Thousand Voices!"<br /><br />Through all the constant talk about the gay marriage amendments across the country, I feel like there has been very little conversation about <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">why</span> 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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >If you are an illustrator, ask yourself or your LGBT friends what their hopes for equal rights are and send me<span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">(evan@evanturk.com)</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> </span>your artwork. If you’re not an artist, send in your story, and someone can help illustrate your hope for equal rights (this includes non-gay members of the gay community!).</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >If you are an artist and would like to be involved but don't have a story to illustrate, e-mail me and I'll find you one.<br /><br /></span>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.<br /><br />Thank you, and Happy Pride Week!<br /><br />-Evan TurkEvan Turkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11524277879095656963noreply@blogger.com0