By: Christine Nicco/TRT Reporter—
PROVINCETOWN, Mass.—LGBT icon and author Edie Windsor will join B. Proud, photographer and author of First Comes Love: Portraits of Enduring LGBTQ Relationships, for a joint book signing event at the Provincetown Public Library on August 11 at 6 p.m.
According to Philadelphia native B. Proud, First Comes Love, takes a glimpse into the real lives of the LGBTQ community, depicted by photographs and love stories of the couples. Edie Windsor is one of several couples featured in the book. Windsor married her wife, Thea Spyer, in 2007 after 41 years of being together. Spyer passed away in 2009. After suing the U.S. government for equal marriage recognition, the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional on June 26 due to Windsor’s efforts.
“This book and project began when my partner and I celebrated our 20th anniversary and thereby became the longest surviving couple in our families, and then Proposition 8 passed,” B. Proud explained. “I decided to use my art and voice to tell the real story of our community. Having Edie Windsor as one of the participating couples and the author of the foreword is a real honor and makes this project one of the most historical collections of the modern LGBTQ movement.”
First Comes Love is comprised of black and white portraits and accompanying stories of 65 couples, such as Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer, both of the Proposition 8 couples, Bishop V. Gene Robinson, original “gay pioneers” Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen, Annise Parker, the Mayor of Houston, and her spouse Cathy, the first couple married in Washington, DC and many more intriguing stories depicting the LGBT community.
“First Comes Love is more than a book of beautiful photography, it’s an essential document,” said HRC President, Chad Griffin, who also endorsed the book. “It testifies to a moment in history that all of us made possible and none of us will ever forget—when our community left the closet for good, and equality finally became a mainstream American value.”
This book is just one element of the First Comes Love Project, a traveling exhibition of photographs, love stories and video interviews documenting LGBTQ couples who have been together for 10, 20, 30, 40, and even 50+ years. Prior to the most recent marriage equality decision, a copy of this book was sent to each of the 9 Supreme Court justices.
“First Comes Love has it right,” said Evan Wolfson, President of Freedom to Marry. “It’s the faces and stories of real people that open hearts and minds and pave the way to legal and social change.”
Books will be on sale after the presentation, and both B. Proud and EdieWindsor will be available for a signing. Admission is free.
The Provincetown Public Library is located at 356 Commercial St, Provincetown, Mass.
For more information about author B. Proud email bproud@firstcomeslove.org or call 302.545.6570. To order the book online, visit http://www.firstcomeslove.org.
