PA
DIVERSITY NETWORK
National
Award Winning
PHOTO
PROJECT
200 SAME-SEX COUPLES:
FACING INEQUALITY
Scroll Down to See Pictures of Photo Project Exhibition
Venues
This is
an on-going project. For further information on being part
of this project click on one of the topics below or call
Photo Project creator Liz Bradbury at the PDN offices at
610-432-5449, or email lbradbury@padiversity.org.
As of May 6, 2008 there are 227 Couples in the Photo
Project!
(January
20th, 2007 TV News Report)
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A CHANNEL
69 NEWS REPORT THAT INCLUDES
INTERVIEWS WITH RABBI ROBERT LENNICK AND PDN'S ADRIAN
SHANKER,
AND COVERAGE OF THE PHOTO PROJECT'S
PICTURES.
When
you get to the page click the "watch video" button above
the photo.
Click here for Project
Information
CLICK HERE TO LINK TO A MORNING CALL ARTICLE
ABOUT THIS EVENT
Click here for Press Releases on the Keneseth
Israel Showing
and the Muhlenberg College Show
Click here for Educational Information
and Stats that
Accompany the Photo
Show
Click here to find out how to be part of the
show,
or to find out how to book the show for your
venue
CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO MAINSTREAM ARTICLES
ON THE PHOTO PROJECT
April 22nd, 2008
The entire Photo Project featured in
a
special issue of Panzee Press to
Fight SB 1250
The Constitutional Amendment
April 6th
The Photo Project projected on a screen
at the Sisterhood Show and
Fundraiser at Diamonz
March 6th to March 20th
The Photo Project at Unami Quaker Meeting
(in laminated picture format)
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The
Photo Project at Bucks County Communtiy College
(in framed format)
February 2008
Photo Project Returns to MCCLV at its new address
for Freedom to Marry Day 2008 Celebrations - Feb. 6 to 21,
2008
Congregation
Keneseth Israel’s MLK Diversity Celebration featuring
the
PA Diversity Network Photo Project.
This was the first main stream congregation showing of the
Photo Project.
January, 2007
(below)
500 people attended the MLK event at K.I.
Over
300 students, faculty and community members
viewed the Photo Project at Reading Area Community College
on Novemebr 8, 9, and 10, 2007
(below)
Photos
returned to MCC for September & Oct, 2007
(below)
June
Invitational Event at the PDN Gallery
(5 photos below)
Reading
Pride Fundraiser at the Stirling Guest Hotel
May 20, 2007
(below)
Reading
Pride Fundraiser at the Stirling Guest Hotel
(below)
Gabellini Design Gallery April 28 to May 19th, 2007
(below)
Gabellini
Design Gallery
(below)
Civic
Theatre -- During the run of the play
Love! Valour! Compassion! March 31- to April 23, 2007
(below)
Civic Theatre
(below)
Cast and Director of Love! Valour! Compassion! at Civic
Theatre
(below)
Freedom
to Marry Photo Contest winning picture taken at
MCCLV of Photo Project couples.
This and all photos on this site are taken by Liz Bradbury
unless otherwise noted.
(below)
Click here to go to the National Freedom to
Marry web site to
see information about PDN winning that natiaonl
award
PPL
Tower Building February 12 - 16
(below)
GLOW of PPL members Dan Moffitt and Russ Fernsler (GLOW
Pres.),
helping to set up the Photo Project. The GLOW employee
group of
PPL arranged to bring the Photo Project to PPL.
(below)
Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley
at the Freedom to Marry Service
(below)
MCCLV - February 10, 2007
(below)
MCCLV - FTMD Service 2007
(below)
Baker Arts Center Galleria, Muhlenberg College
January 16 - February 7, 2007
(below)
Baker Arts Center Galleria, Muhlenberg College
(below)
Click on the picture below to see
pictures of the Muhlenberg College Photo Project Reception
(below)
Air Products and Chemicals
Lunchtime - National Coming Out Day (Oct 11) 2006
Air Products and Chemicals
Lunchtime - National Coming Out Day (Oct 11) 2006
(below)
Air Products and Chemicals in Trexlertown
Project Creator Liz Bradbury
speaks about the Photo Show - shows slide projection
(below)
PDN Gallery in Allentown - September 2006
(below)
Theatre Outlet Lobby in Allentown - June & July 2006
(below)
Students at Northampton Community College
set up the show the evening of National Coming Out Day
(below)
Northampton Community College main student lounge
October 2006 -- thousands saw the show in this venue
(below)
PDN Photo Project
200 Same-sex Couples:
Facing Inequality
Project Information and
Background
Photos
of 200 plus (227 so far) local same-sex couples serve to
remind the mainstream public of the discrimination and
inequality the GLBT community will experience if proposed
anti-same-sex relationship amendments to the State and
Federal Constitutions are successful and if most states,
including Pennsylvania continue to refuse to grant any
legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
The Photo Project has both a full set of labeled photos
that are projected on a screen and a full set of framed
labeled photos the can be hung in a gallery setting.
The framed Photo Project has already been exhibited at:
Theatre Outlet, the PDN Gallery, Northampton Community
College (viewed by 1000s of people), Air Products and
Chemicals, Muhlenberg College, PPL, Civic Theatre,
Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley,
Reading's Stirling Hotel and was included in a TV News
broadcast interview about NJ Civil Unions. See the "2008
PDN Events " section of this web site for further future
exhibition information.
The projected Photo Project has been shown on screen or
wall at: MCCLV Anniversary Banquet, PDN’s Melissa
Etheridge Dinner Event at Musikfest on the inside ceiling
of the tent, PFLAG in Reading, Air Products and Chemicals,
the LV Gay Men’s Chorus Concert and will be prsented
at Wachovia Call Center later in June.
*In
2007, the Photo Project won a photo contest sponsored by
the New York based national organization Freedom To Marry
which featured the Photo Project’s award winning
photo on its web site. Click here to go to the National Freedom to
Marry web site for more on PDN winning this
award.
Labels on each photo include the names of each member of
the committed same-sex couple, each of their professions,
the number of years they have been together and the number
of children they have, if any. The exhibition (both framed
and projected) also includes signs with information and
statistics about civil marriage rights and discrimination.
The photos are in black and white and are 5” x
7” and are in 8” by 10” frames. The
Project was created by PDN Executive Director Liz Bradbury.
All photos were taken by Liz Bradbury. The project does not
use photos taken by other photographers.
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| All participants must live in, or have lived in Pennsylvania, preferably the greater Lehigh Valley Area or Berks County. All participants must sign a release allowing their photo to be shown in Project exhibitions and in publicity for the Project. A poster including 120 of the couples is being prepared for release in spring of 2007. To participate in the Photo Project or to learn more about it, contact PA Diversity Network at: 610-432-5449, info@padiversity.org. |
Press Release about the Keneseth Israel Martin Luther King Diversity event featuring the PDN Photo Project:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7th, 2008
Congregation Keneseth Israel’s MLK Diversity Celebration to feature PA Diversity Network Photo Project - 200 Same-sex Couples: Facing Inequality.
Contact:
Liz Bradbury, PA Diversity Network, Executive Director
904-491-6172 (***special contact number until Jan.31st)
610-432-5449 (office)
lbradbury@padiversity.org (liztrish@aol.com)
www.padiversity.org
Contact:
Congregation Keneseth Israel
Rabbi Robert Lennick
Executive Director, Judy Murman
610-435-9074
The Pennsylvania Diversity Network Photo Project - 200 Same-sex Couples: Facing Inequality will be featured during Congregation Keneseth Israel’s Martin Luther King Weekend Celebration. The Photo Project is on display at Congregation Keneseth Israel at 23rd and Chew in Allentown for the entire month of January, 2008. Special diversity events for Martin Luther King weekend on Jan 18th and Jan 20th will feature the Project.
Congregation Keneseth Israel hosts the first mainstream religious congregation display of the National Award Winning* Pennsylvania Diversity Network Photo Project - 200 Same-sex Couples: Facing Inequality. The 212 framed photos of local same-sex couples are hung on special display walls in Keneseth Israel’s large multipurpose room. Keneseth Israel, a member synagogue of the Union for Reform Judaism at 2227 W. Chew St., Allentown, will be exhibiting the PDN Photo Project all of the month of January.
Rabbi Robert Lennick will reflect on the Photo Project and civil rights in his sermon on Friday Jan. 18 - during Martin Luther King weekend. A Shabbot pot luck dinner that evening, will be open to the community.
Service begins at 6pm, dinner begins at 7pm. To participate in the dinner, call to RSVP and discuss what you will bring for the potluck: 610-435-9074.
There will also be a Martin Luther King Interfaith Service with a diversity fair, open to the public on Sunday, Jan. 20 beginning at 2pm.
The PA Diversity Network Photo Project - 200 Same-sex Couples: Facing Inequality, was begun in 2006 on National Freedom to Marry Day (February 12) by PDN Executive Director Liz Bradbury. Bradbury began taking pictures of local committed same-sex couples in response to federal and state political efforts to Constitutionally ban legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
The Photo Project serves to not only remind the public that same-sex couples in PA cannot marry, cannot get any rights through civil union, have no legal recognition and are legally seen by the government as strangers, but also to put a local face on this discrimination.
“Every time a legislator or a political candidate speaks or votes against equal rights for gay citizens they speak as though this group is some faceless “them” in some other far away community,” says Bradbury who holds Bachelors of Fine Art and Masters of Fine Art degrees. She sees the Photo Project as a way to show the entire community that many committed long term same-sex couples are living right here in the Lehigh Valley and Berks County.
“In every venue we’ve exhibited these photos, viewers have recognized people they know and learned how these friends, neighbors and colleagues have to endure the lack of civil rights that the rest of the population takes for granted. The Project not only shows the couples, but demonstrates that members of the gay community are your neighbors, teachers, doctors, coworkers and your family. We are real people, we vote, we pay taxes and we don’t have equal rights,” says Bradbury.
The constantly growing Photo Project has both a full set of labeled photos that are projected on a screen and a full set of framed labeled photos to be hung in a gallery setting. Labels on each black and white photo include the names of each member of the committed same-sex couple, each of their professions, the number of years they have been together and the number of children they have, if any. The exhibition (both framed and projected) also includes signs with information and statistics about civil marriage rights and discrimination.
“While the Project is about all types of same-sex couples, regardless of their age and the number of years they’ve been together, viewers are often moved by the many pictures of older couples who have been together for more than 30 or 40 years,” says Bradbury who has been with her partner Patricia Sullivan for 20 years.
Photo Project exhibition venues in 2006 and 2007 included: Theatre Outlet, the PDN Gallery, Northampton Community College (viewed by 1000s of people), Air Products and Chemicals, Muhlenberg College, PPL, Civic Theatre, Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley, Reading's Stirling Hotel, Wachovia Bank and Reading Area Community College. It was included in a TV News broadcast interview about NJ Civil Unions.
*In 2007, the Photo Project won a photo contest sponsored by the New York based national organization Freedom To Marry which featured the Photo Project’s award winning photo on its web site
For more information about the Photo Project and to view stats and information about same-sex couples civil rights see the PDN web site
www.padiversity.org - click Photo Project.
CLICK HERE TO LINK TO A MORNING CALL ARTICLE ABOUT THE GABELLINI SHOW OPENING
Press Release for the
Muhlenberg College Exhibition
The PA Diversity Network (PDN) Photo Project --100 Same Sex Couples: Facing Inequality will be exhibited in the Muhlenberg College Galleria Gallery in the Baker Center for the Arts, 2400 block of Chew Street, Allentown, from January 16, 2007 to February 7, 2007. A show reception is planned for Wednesday, February 7 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm in the Galleria.
Photos of 100 plus (130 so far) local same-sex couples serve to remind the mainstream public of the discrimination and inequality the GLBT community will continue to experience if proposed anti-same-sex relationship amendments to the State and Federal Constitutions are successful and if most states, including Pennsylvania continue to refuse to give any legal recognition to same-sex relationships.
Project coordinator and photographer Liz Bradbury began this photo project in February 2006, when she heard candidate for governor Lynn Swann say about same-sex relationships, "Two men together? That’s not OK, we have to get that in the Constitution..."
“Mr. Swann seemed to be implying that if there were some kind of discriminatory Constitutional Amendment the gay population of Pennsylvania would disappear,” says Bradbury, “he, and I guess many other people don’t realize that we're here, we've been around forever and were not going away even though we are discriminated against everyday, because we cannot be legally married in this country and because there is no legal same-sex relationship recognition in Pennsylvania, such as civil union.”
Bradbury, who is the Executive Director of PA Diversity Network and who holds Bachelors of Fine Art and Masters of Fine Art degrees, decided to provide a way to show the entire community that many committed long term same-sex couples are living right here in the Lehigh Valley. “In every venue we’ve exhibited these photos, viewers have recognized people they know and learned how these friends, neighbors and colleagues have to endure the lack of civil rights that the rest of the population takes for granted. The project not only shows the couples, but demonstrates that members of the gay community are your neighbors, teachers, r doctors, coworkers and your family. We are real people, we vote, we pay taxes and we don’t have equal rights. We are not just some abstract them.”
“PDN is grateful to Muhlenberg College for this outstanding opportunity to show this important project to the community, and to have Muhlenberg’s Gay/Straight Alliance supporting this show,” says Bradbury, “Muhlenberg College has an excellent non-discrimination policy and supports same-sex relationships by offering domestic partnership benefits to its employees. More corporations should follow the lead of fair-minded institutions like Muhlenberg.”
This showing is in collaboration with Muhlenberg’s student Gay/Straight Alliance. Adrian Shanker, GSA Boardmember states, "The Muhlenberg GSA is proud to support this photography exhibit, the more people who are able to put a physical face to the politics of a loving committed gay relationship, the less power homophobia will have in limiting the rights of gay partners."
The Photo Project, which includes 130 framed photos and the projection on a screen of these 130 images, has already been shown in many places including: The Theatre Outlet, Air Products and Northampton Community. It will be exhibited in many other venues.
More committed couples wishing to participate in the project are welcome. To participate in the Photo Project or to learn more about it, contact PA Diversity Network at: 610-432-5449, info@padiversity.org.
PDN also brings you the Valley Gay Press, GLBT Infoline, Rainbow Families, the PDN Resource Web Site (www.padiversity.org) and does presentations and trainings on GLBT issues. Top
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