The Heart Has No Borders

"The heart has its reasons that reason does not know."

-Blaise Pascal



When you draw lines in the heart it breaks.
When the heart breaks, it cries.
These tears water the hope that we can have love without borders.



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?

Writer/Illustrator - Laura Vila - New York, NY
http://www.lauravila.com

Stereotype

"There is just one life for each of us: our own."

-Euripides

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.

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.

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.

Writer - Cole Burden - Manhattan, New York
Illustrator - Rosa Lee - Brooklyn, New York
http://the1104studio.com/

A Helping Hand

“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.”

-President Barack Obama

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.

Writer/Illustrator: Evan Turk - Manhattan, New York
http://evanturk.com

Understanding

"To understand everything makes one tolerant."

-Germaine de Stael

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:

A. wearing a rubber band around my wrist; and

B. flicking it whenever I had a homosexual thought.

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.

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.

If only it was so simple to eradicate fear and bigotry with the snap of a rubber band………

From the illustrator-- 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, "The Audacity of Hope": 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.

Writer - Brett Kennedy - Manhattan, New York
Illustrator - Sara Dilliplane - Boston, Massachusetts
http://the1104studio.com/

"I can't reach you..."

“All men are created equal.”

-Thomas Jefferson

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.

Writer/Illustrator - Todd Rawson - Manhattan, New York
http://toddrawson.com/

I Wonder

“One of the hardest things in life is having words
in your heart that you can’t utter.”
-James Earl Jones

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.

Writer - PJ Verica - Media, Pennsylvania
Illustrator - Danielle McManus - Westchester, New York
http://the1104studio.com

Love On the Scales of Justice

"The value of love will always be stronger than the value of hate."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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.

Writer/Illustrator - Audrey Hawkins - Manhattan, New York
http://audreyhawkins.blogspot.com/