Being Part of a Lesbian Family in the Deep South Still Means Living in Limbo

[DonViejo]

By Jordan G. Teicher

When Carolyn L. Sherer started photographing lesbians and their families in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2011, many chose not to show their faces. They were scared, they said, of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in other ways. Other people she asked to participate in her series, “Living in Limbo,” refused to be photographed at all. But Sherer, who is a lesbian, was determined to make members of her community in Birmingham seem less invisible, in part because she hoped that letting others see them would help them become fully recognized and protected citizens.

Sherer started by making portraits of a few people she knew that were most comfortable being photographed. Once the Civil Rights Institute endorsed the project, other organizations jumped on board, and, ultimately, interest grew so much that she had to start turning subjects away. She was looking to create a “mosaic” of the community, encompassing women with and without kids, as well as women representing different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

“My wife and I have been together since 1979 and it’s been very painful to me that my family hasn’t been acknowledged as a family unit. So that’s why I wanted to explore what a family is, what a family looks like. I wanted it to be about relationships and how people relate to each other in front of the camera,” she said.

Sherer invited participants to her studio, where they were free to choose their own outfits and their own poses. Using a handheld camera, Sherer moved about the space as her subjects interacted with one another and changed their positions; the shoots became “a sort of dance.”

more + photos:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2015/05/05/carolyn_l_sherer_photographs_lesbian_families_in_the_deep_south_in_her_series.html?

[cwydro]

1. Thanks for posting this!

Rec.

[yallerdawg]

2. Living in the shadows.

Reminder of Nazi Germany.

You can be fired for sexual orientation! In America, in the 21st century!

There is just so much work to be done...

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Being lesbian in small towns is no mean feat, either.

My dearest friends here in Mayberry have been together for ages, they went to Cal. to get married some years ago.
And I got a chance to see how acceptance works in this small community.
When Katrina hit New Orleans, many people opened their homes to hurricane refugees, which were screened and placed thru the local churches.
One of the churches approached my friend, seeking shelter for 2 gay ladies from N.O.
As I heard about it later, the church lady said " I thought that these (refugee) women would be most comfortable with y'all".
thus never having to come out and say anything direct but being able to fulfill the church obligations.
turns out, it was a Baptist church
and my friends are not church goers at all.
but, when the chips are down in the South, prioritizes are re-arranged as necessary.