My last assignment for Photography was really interesting. We were asked to pick a contemporary issue, take a stance on it, and shoots images that showed our thoughts about it. I immediately thought about gay bullying. I don't know why exactly. I really would have thought mostly about gay rights, but for some reason bullying seemed a little more poignant so I decided that it would be that way. My original idea was to have 3 models. One would be a gay guy, one would be a jock, and the last would be a religious person. The jock was going to be covering the mouth of the gay kid while the religious person would be looking away, not really paying attention. It's an alright concept. But I didn't think it would really communicate the issue of gay bullying.
So then I came up with the idea of suicide caused by gay bullying. This was a big ordeal this past October. I remember hearing about young kids who killed themselves all because of horrible comments and misunderstandings from other people. It was a big issue in the Church as well with the talk by Elder Boyd K Packer about identity.
The fact of the matter is, being gay/lesbian is not a reason to end ones life. There is NO reason to end ones life. But those poor kids who did so were simply not understood. So I want to show in my photographs that really these acts were real. They were real people who loved and felt emotions and they were loved by others.
My photos are particularly gruesome, but it is to show how I am extremely against suicide and I feel pain for those who resort to it. This is the image I produced for class.
I don't have any gay readers, at least I don't think I do. I do have a lesbian reader. But the point is, as all of the celebrities say it on YouTube, It Gets Better. Life DOES get better and there is no reason to feel like you need to change. You are lovely sons and daughters of God, who loves you, and I love you.
