The faith, opinions and belief systems that
congregations and other fellowships are made up
of often provide a strong sense of belonging and of
being safe within the group. Sharing faith, values and
having the same elevated hope can be very forceful.
But what happens to those who can’t believe
what is being preached or that which ”is written”?
What happens to those who dare to question
fundamental ”truths”? What does it do to a person
to constantly be judged for their personal feelings?
And what happens to a person who discovers their
homosexuality while having been told their entire
life that homosexuality is a most serious sin?
I have, for some time now, met people from the
LGBTQ+ community with backgrounds in religious
or other strongly defined groups. Most of them have
experiences of creating a new life, making new friends
and redefining families after severing connections to t
heir “previous life”.
I have asked them to write down a defining experience,
event or memory as a symbol of their journey, and from
those chosen words I have planned and developed
individual pictures. Stand-in models have been used in
the pictures whenever the participant chose not to be in the photo.
Each participant has approved their picture.
This is an ongoing art photo-project that welcomes
new participants. So, if you as a person with LGBTQ+ experiences
would like to tell your story, do not hesitate to contact me!
Ilar Gunilla Persson
ilargunilla@gmail.com
