“WE ARE HERE” - African-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Images

African-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Images Displayed on the North Side of Chicago during Unity Month

September is Unity Month in Chicago.

In celebration of Unity Month, WE ARE HERE: African-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Images,™ an exhibit of photographs by Richard Lee Gray, opened September 1, in Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. WE ARE HERE will be displayed from September until September 28.

A reception to celebrate the exhibit will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11, in the Sulzer Regional Library Auditorium. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

WE ARE HERE: Spiritual Connections, a program of stories and dialogue with three progressive, African-American, same-gender-loving ministers about living authentically as LGBT individuals will be presented at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12, in the Sulzer Regional Library Community Meeting Room.

“The Commission on Human Relations is proud to be a sponsor of this groundbreaking exhibit and program during Unity Month,” said Wood.

“The idea for “We Are Here” came when I saw the ‘Just Married’ exhibit at Hull House in Chicago, which featured photographs of same-gender-loving people being married in San Francisco,” said Richard Lee Gray. “A number of Black people commented that they saw few Black gay people in that exhibit and those they saw were with white partners. As a photographer of African-American descent who is same-gender-loving, I felt the need to respond. “We Are Here” is a result of my commitment to highlight images of African-American same-gender-loving people. It is a naming project meant to put a face on the diversity within the larger Black community.”

“This is an expanding exhibit,” added Gray, “and additional portraits have been added for this display. Eventually “We Are Here” will include a larger collection of images, videos, art, and voices of African-American same-gender-loving and transgender people and their families.”

The “We Are Here” project is co-sponsored by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues.

Click “We Are Here.”