5 minute read
Cover Story
The Meaning Behind This Year's Pride Guide Cover Art
By Maynor Campos
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The cover of every issue of the Boston Pride Guide features works of art created by members of Greater Boston’s vibrant community of queer and ally artists. I was delighted and honored to be asked to illustrate this year’s cover. In what follows is a discussion of the meaning behind the painting I made. It is a highly personal response to the editors’ request for an image whose style and content embodied this year’s Pride theme of Rainbow Resistance as it related particularly to the intersection between LGBTQ rights and the highly charged social and political issue of immigration.
The seated person in the foreground of the piece represents me, an immigrant who came to the United States looking for a better life. I came here from Guatemala, where being gay was not accepted when I lived there. Even now it can be a hostile environment for LGBTQ people. The American flag draped over my shoulders represents the freedom that I, as many others, sought when I immigrated to the US. However, I did not realize until I arrived that there is much discrimination that exists. I turned to the friends and community I made in my new home for strength and support, and their support helped me become the person I am now. Among this affirming community I also found my husband, who always has my back and supports me in every way that he can; he is represented as the person in blue standing and hugging me from behind.
I acknowledge that we would not have been able to marry had the LGBTQ community not fought a long battle for equality.
The overarching theme of this piece is togetherness, because there is strength in numbers and progress cannot be achieved without the support and cooperation of a diverse many. This diversity and plurality is represented by the six individuals in the piece: one from every continent, meant to reflect all races, ethnicities, and genders united in a common cause. The lack of precise facial features permits viewers to see themselves as well as others in these figures. The cover therefore functions on both the specific and the general level: while the storybehind the design is personal, I imagine that it resonates with the experiences of many in our community – especially those of fellow queer immigrants.
Thus, the embrace of the two individuals in the foreground can represent not only my loving relationship with my husband, but the way in which members of the LGBTQ community care for one another and encourage togetherness.
The individual wearing green is actually dressed in camouflage, a direct reference to recent efforts to ban transgender people from serving in the military. The inclusion of this person is meant to remind us of the various fronts on which we must continue to resist policies that reinforce discrimination, and to acknowledge the numerous contributions to society made by our community, despite the adversity we face.
A R T S & C U LT U R E
Realizing the cover: the artist's creative process. Credit: Maynor Campos.
The people standing in the background are dressed in darker, more serious colors and raise their fists in a gesture of resistance to discrimination. One of these figures also proudly unfurls the rainbow flag, which for 40 years now has served as an international emblem of the LGBTQ community. It is under this banner that the Boston Pride community will march on June 9 in a demonstration of Rainbow Resistance. The red, orange, and yellow which envelopes the central group of figures evokes fire, an elemental symbol of our community’s outrage, passion, and strength, which we channel into intersectional resistance.
The figure in the rear center of the piece is wearing a shirt that says JUNTXS. In Spanish, this term means “together.” The use of the X in the place of the vowels O and A reflects a growing trend in the Hispanic/Latinx LGBTQ community to be more inclusive of all gender identities, including those which are nonbinary. Spanish nouns and adjectives traditionally conform to only one of two genders (male/female) and descriptions of mixed-gender groups conventionally default to the masculine form. The adoption of the X is therefore meant to convey a fully inclusive sense of togetherness. I chose the word "together" to express my solidarity with all other LGBTQ immigrants in the country. And I rendered this word in Spanish, as it is my native language and Latinxs are one of – yet not the only – population that is currently being targeted by the immigration policies and practices of the current administration.
The blue, pink, white paint used to write JUNTXS is a nod specifically to the trans and gender nonconforming community, against whose rights several laws have been passed in recent years. The black-and-white combination on the JUNTXS shirt is also intended to be a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is for two related reasons. First, any group facing persecution today can and should be able to find strength and solidarity with other groups facing struggles. Again, there is strength in numbers. Second, LGBTQ people of color face statistically disproportionate levels of discrimination and are more prone to disparities in health. In keeping with the overarching theme of togetherness, the cover embraces the ethic of intersectional activism, since an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
Having immigrated from Guatemala, Maynor Campos has called the Boston area home since 1999. While in Guatemala, he attended the National Art School in Guatemala City and also worked as an art teacher. His art is inspired by the colors, traditions, and culture of his native country. More recently, however, his art has been informed by contemporary events, including the ongoing debate around, and struggle for, immigrant rights in the United States. He and his husband currently divide their time between Boston and Southern Maine.
