West Midlands LGBTQ community telling their life stories for 'authentic' new book
Lives of people from the LGBTQ community are being recorded for a forthcoming book that will tell their stories in their words.
LGBTQ Voices West Midlands 2021-2023 will feature 100 portraits and mini-autobiographies of people taking part from across the region.
The project is being driven by Kathy O’Connor, a gender fluid gay artist to enable the community to be ‘seen, heard, respected and valued’.
Kathy, 45, took photos and recorded audio interviews at Wolverhampton Art Gallery on Saturday where among the participants was drag artist Will Hopkins.
Known as ‘Miss Brazil’ he delighted other visitors with his colourful costume adorned with feathers.
Kathy, who is LGBT Ambassador for the BAS9 show currently exhibiting at Wolverhampton Art Gallery and School of Art, said: “Everyone featured is connected with the LGBTQ community and I’m trying to be as diverse as possible.
“The youngest person is a nine-year-old trans girl who is taking part with her mother, and there are also people in their 60s and 70s.
“It is about creating a book that is authentic. When I was a kid there was nothing on the bookshelves for me.
“Things have improved but education is still needed.
“My aim is to get this book into libraries so people can read it for free. I also want to get it onto the school curriculum but that might take some time.”
Kathy’s work on the book is voluntary - she calls it a ‘passion project’ - and says it will be published in Spring 2023.
“I feel really privileged to be able to help people from the LGBTQ community be seen and heard,” she said.
“I am looking forward to collating the information for the book.”
Kathy, from Walsall, says she is about one third of the way through her photoshoots and interviews.
She will be conducting more at the Wolverhampton University’s School of Art on Saturday.
Other events are planned as part of LGBTQ Voices West Midlands 2021-2023 including a mosaic workshop exploring self-identity and communication at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in February and March and a mini-exhibition of artwork and quotes from the book project at Wolverhampton Central Library from Saturday March 26 to April 9.
For more information visit www.lgbtqvoiceswestmidlands.com.
