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HRC and LGBTQ+ Artist Collaborations
Produced by the
HRC Foundation
Since Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2021, the Human Rights Campaign has been collaborating with artists who are as eclectic and diverse as the LGBTQ+ community itself, as part of a larger effort to reach and engage with multiple intersecting audiences and to honor and celebrate the communities with which they identify.
Black History Month 2023
Black folks, including Black LGBTQ+ folks, have long fought back against racism and oppression. That resistance helps light the path toward racial equality, liberation and justice. This Black History Month, we collaborated with Kah Yangni to honor Black resistance and culmination of strength, power and beauty throughout the years. Kah uses their artwork to spotlight their own-and that of others-Black and queer experiences through the lenses of joy and beauty. They aim to spark optimism and hope through their art during a time of racial tensions and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, especially against transgender and non-binary community.
Latine Heritage Month 2022
To celebrate Latine Heritage Month, HRC worked with Sam Kirk, who is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist who identifies as a biracial, queer woman. Her artwork explores the intersection of culture and identity politics while encompassing a call to celebrate differences and enact change. Sam designed a piece titled “Orgulloso” to honor the intersection of her Latine heritage and her queerness.
Juneteenth 2022
To explore the joy and pain of Juneteenth, HRC partnered with a local Washington D.C. artist, Nia Keturah Calhoun (she/they). Calhoun, a Black, queer artist, explores the significance of Juneteenth through their intersectional lens. They also dive into their artistic process for this collaboration. The piece draws on the duality of the beauty and pain associated with Juneteenth and the American Black experience.
AANHPI Heritage Month 2022
To celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month, HRC partnered with Lehuauakea (they/them). Lehuauakea is an interdisciplinary artist who identifies as māhū-Native Hawaiian. Their artistic exploration of culture and cultural folklore as well as their ties to native lands and intersectional identities provide a unique perspective during this AANHPI Heritage Month celebration.
Lehuauakea generously provided HRC with a unique, one-of-a-kind art piece intended to bring the joy and beauty of AANHPI culture to our celebration.
Black History Month 2022
During Black History Month in 2022, HRC worked with Kendrick Daye to create artwork for the cover of the Winter 2022 edition of Equality Magazine. Daye created a piece that depicted Black queer life as a thriving and prosperous entity in contrast to the social turmoil and uproar in recent years due to the United States’ relentless issue with systemic racism.
Latine Heritage Month 2021
For Latine Heritage Month in 2021, HRC collaborated with Sonia Lazo to showcase our queerceañera campaign. Quinceañeras are prevalent in Latine countries and cultures as they mark a young girl’s passage into womanhood at the age of 15. Through the festivities, the woman is empowered through her identity, self-worth and profound connection to cultural aspects such as religion, family values and community.
We all deserve to celebrate our passage in adulthood. For many Latine LGBTQ+ folks - and many other LGBTQ+ people - coming into their own empowerment isn’t something that is widely celebrated.
Our queerceañera campaign, a queer spin on the traditional quinceañeras, is an invitation to celebrate their own passage into finding their identity and self-worth, regardless of gender identity, age or nationality.
Lazo, a renowned queer artist, designed the graphic for the campaign. Learn more about Lazo and their artwork on Instagram and Twitter.
APA Out Loud Day 2021
Our APA Out Loud Campaign consists of a spoken word series in partnership with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Youth Speaks. Three young LGBTQ+ APA artists are featured in videos to bring visibility to the legacy of issues impacting people who live at the intersection of LGBTQ+ and APA identities.
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Play the Video
Jireh Deng
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Play the Video
Lauren Bullock
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Play the Video
Caitlyn Clark
"This body is (not) a virus"
Jireh Deng was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. Her words appear with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the podcast “VS,” Youth Speaks anthology “Between my Body and the Air” and elsewhere. She has emceed the TEDxCSULB 2020 conference and performed with the San Francisco Public Library and is a member of West Hollywood's 2021 Pride Poets cohort. A screenwriter in training, they were a workshop participant in Get Lit Words Ignite 2020-21 Poetic Screenwriters Lab. In Summer 2021, Deng was an editorial pages intern at the LA Times. Connect with Jireh on Instagram & Twitter
"Postcard from San Fransokyo in the Form of a Poem"
Lauren Bullock is a queer Black and Vietnamese writer, performer, teaching artist, events organizer, and model. Her work appears on AFROPUNK.com, Button Poetry, The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, and more. Lauren earned acclaim for her pop culture commentary through editorials on Black Nerd Problems as well as serving as poetry editor for FreezeRay Poetry. To date, she has organized seven international and regional arts conferences or festivals, and five monthly series. Bullock’s modeling work has also been featured by publications such as Gmaro Magazine and Out-and-Out Magazine. When not creating, she enjoys fighting crime as a costumed vigilante of many aliases.
"Homonym, after tragedy & Ocean Vuong"
Caitlyn Clark is a Korean-American poet and current undergraduate at Yale University. She serves as editor-in-chief of Broad Recognition, Yale's intersectional feminist student magazine, and is a member of WORD, Yale's oldest spoken word group. She became the youngest Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Grand Champion at age 14, and has since gone on to perform on stages across the country, including representing the Bay Area at Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival in 2014. She has performed alongside the likes of John Legend and Sharon Jones, and her work has been featured in Button Poetry, Upworthy, Quiet Lightning's sPARKLE & bLINK, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and more. She hopes to pursue a future in organizing for the social, political and economic liberation of the oppressed. She is from the San Francisco Bay Area.
HRC’s APA Out Loud Campaign also showcased the work of Meg Emiko, a young Asian American, trans, non-binary artist. Since they began pursuing art, Emiko worked to have their designs and content capture their APA and LGBTQ+ identity as a whole. Meg uses their voice and work to fight for equality, representation and safety to live as their most authentic self.
“I had spent so many years trying to push the two most important parts of my identity aside, that I knew I wanted to create a platform and safe space for other AAPI and LGBTQIA+ folks so they could feel represented in some way,” said Emiko.
Below are Meg’s exclusive designs for HRC”s APA Out Loud Campaign along with their own descriptions:
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'Family Crest In Trans Colors' -
'You Are Loved'
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'The Crane and Rainbow'
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'AAPI & Proud'
This design is my Japanese family crest in trans colors, which brings together my identity as a whole. I feel that drawing this crest in these colors is the best way to celebrate my entire identity without using any words. To me, this cherry blossom will always represent the love and support I’ve always received from my parents and grandma as I’ve explored my gender and sexuality to become the most authentic version of myself.
I've finally reached a point in my life where I no longer feel like I have or want to hide any parts of my identity. I am so proud to be half Korean, half Japanese, and trans non-binary. This design speaks for itself and reminds me that allowing myself to live my life as my most authentic self has been one of my best decisions in life thus far.
This design is a Japanese origami paper crane with a rainbow background that represents my childhood, where I spent lots of time with my mom and grandma folding origami cranes. Japanese paper cranes are a symbol of long life and can also be a sign of support and encouragement. Throughout my childhood, I always felt an immense amount of support and love from my grandma, who always made it clear that no matter who I wanted to be, she'd always love me. Knowing that I had the support of my grandma always made growing up and exploring my true identity something really freeing and special for me. I look back at all the memories I made with my grandma and I always smile. She has always been one of my biggest inspirations and I hope to honor her and our memories with this design.
I've finally reached a point in my life where I no longer feel like I have or want to hide any parts of my identity. I am so proud to be half Korean, half Japanese, and trans non-binary. This design speaks for itself and reminds me that allowing myself to live my life as my most authentic self has been one of my best decisions in life thus far.
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