Monday,July,12,2004

Same-sex wedding photos published in a national magazine!

My photographs of the Same-sex weddings grace the cover of a national magazine

Same-sex wedding photographs have been published in Christian Networks Journal.

Here’s a link to the cover of the magazine.

I was contacted at the beginning of June by Reverand Gordon McClellan, the Editor in Chief of Christian Networks Journal regarding the use of some of my photographs from the Same-sex weddings that were performed in San Francisco during the Valentines weekend.

In spite of the the friendly and polite tone of the initial email from Reverand McClellan, I was skeptical about allowing a Christian magazine to use my photos. I feel that the people I photographed demonstrated trust by allowing me to capture those images. I would never want to violate that trust by allowing someone to use my photographs in a way that denigrated the people getting married. After speaking with Gordon on the telephone and reading several issues of the magazine, I was confident in my decision to allow CNJ to publish my photos.

Christian Networks Journal is an intellectual magazine that tries to present all perspectives on contemporary issues of importance to Christians. I’m very impressed with the breadth and depth of the opinions offered; from Rick Santorum to Barney Frank on the same-sex marriage topic. I am very proud to be involved with such a quality publication and want to congratulate Reverand McClellan for his oustanding magazine, but more importantly, I want to thank him for helping me to chip away at my stereotypical views of Christians.

After taking the photographs back in February, I spent considerable time reviewing them. I was deeply moved by the depth of emotion, joy and love, evident in the images on my computer screen. I also took note that many of the people in the images were not extreme, scary, or intimidating. These were ordinary, perhaps even boring, everyday people living their lives, many with children.

As I looked at the photos I thought to myself that if those that are opposed to same-sex marriage could see my photos and get a feel for the reality of what a gay relationship looks like they would see that there is nothing to fear. They would see the how ordinary the people are. They would see the love and devotion, including the love of same-sex couples for their children… I think many people opposed to same-sex marriage have a “frightened fantasy” of what it would be. I hope my publication of the reality refutes this “frightened fantasy” that is fed by those opposed. Fear is all too often used as a means to shape opinion, and with a big unknowns like homosexuality and gay marriage it is easy to respond to fear mongering.

All too often people outside of places like San Francisco or New York City only have images from gay pride parades or other extreme examples of the gay community upon which to base their view of what homosexuality is. I’m here to tell you it’s not nearly that exciting most of the time! To think that Folsom Street Fair, or Pride Parades accurately portray gay people is akin to thinking that Mardis Gras is a good example of mainstream American culture. Yet it is precisely those extreme examples that are presented to many as the norm. I’d bet that many people who think they don’t know any gay people are wrong; they know plenty of gay people. They just don’t realize it because the guys aren’t wearing feather boas and high heels, and the women don’t look like outlow motorcyclists.

I would love it if someone that is not sure of how they feel about the issue sees my photographs and then asks, “What’s the big deal? Where is the threat to my family or society?” If that happens I have succeeded. I think that my photos being published in CNJ allows me to reach precisely the sort of person that I want to reach, the thoughtful, open minded Christian that has only seen the strident extremes of viewpoints and heard nightmare scenarios of what gay marriage would look like. I strive to present the human face and reality of the situation.

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