Stas Ginzburg: Holding Space. Community Portraits 2020-2022

Pride month shows how far we’ve come, and how far we have yet to go.

Pride month prompts parades, celebrations, and demonstrations, promoting LGBTQ+ visibility and equality. It falls in June, to mark the Stonewall riots for gay rights in New York in 1969 that spawned the first such march.

In 2019, the Atlantic ran an opinion piece titled “The struggle for gay rights is over”. It came towards the end of a slew of political victories for the LGBTQ cause. The demise of the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 was followed by the end of the federal ban on marriage equality in 2015. Widespread acceptance of same-sex marriage rights, gay people serving in the military and the need for protections for LGBTQ+ people followed. As recently as 2020, the court ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protected gay, lesbian and transgender workers. In 2022, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, a bi-partisan bill mandating federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Is the US now reversing civil liberties for the LGBTQ community? The November 2022, mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, reminded us that homophobia is still widespread. Pronounced acceleration of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation has led to a rash of laws concerning the teaching of human sexuality in school curricula, banning trans student athletes and stripping parents of the right to help their gender-variant children obtain appropriate care. In this year alone, over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across 34 states.

These issues are now being debated in the media, in legislatures, and in the streets.

Since the murder of George Floyd, a resurgence of activism, from Black Lives Matter to Stop Asian Hate to advocacy for trans, immigrant and sex workers’ rights, has filled the streets. Queer and trans voices of color have come to the forefront of this fight for collective freedom.

Gen Z is the most diverse, most accepting, most sexually fluid generation. The March for Queer & Trans Youth Autonomy in Washington DC on March 31st of this year, and the First Trans Prom protest and celebration in front of the US Capitol on May 22nd demonstrate that young people are willing to stand up and be represented on these issues.

These portraits by Stas Ginzburg celebrate and create visibility for our LGBTQ+ siblings who live unapologetically in their truth while advocating for the rights of all marginalized communities. 

This exhibition has been organised by Peter Hay Halpert Fine Art and will be on view at the Vail Public Library, located at 292 West Meadow Drive, Vail CO, from 2-30 June 2023.

Hours are Monday-Thursday, 10 am – 8 pm, and Friday – Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm.

Wednesday 21 June at 5:30 MT there will be an exhibition tour and artist’s talk at the Vail Public Library.