This 64″ x 44″ quilt is one of a series of three quilts I’m creating in response to the anti LGBTQ+ legislation happening in the country. As of the creation of this quilt in April 2022, Florida and Texas have enacted laws that will harm LGBTQ+ youth. Politicians in other states are trying to follow suit. California and Colorado currently have the most protections for LGBTQ+ youth in the country. They are represented by the two right side up light gray triangles in the field of “stars” in the upper left-hand corner of the quilt.
I am not a very outspoken person by nature and creating these quilts is not nearly as helpful as the amazing folks doing the brutal work of fighting back against this legalized bigotry, but this is a very minimal way I can contribute.
I’m appropriating the upside down pink triangle motif that homosexuals were required to wear in Nazi Germany. In the early 1980s, Avram Finkelstein, Charles Kreloff, Jorge Socarrás, Brian Howard and Chris Lione, and Oliver Johnston created the Silence=Death poster, turning the triangle right side up and changing the color to a hot pink/fuchsia. They wanted to change the symbol from one of victimization to one of empowerment. And their poster has become an instantly recognizable call to action in the LGBTQ+ community. However, I’ve flipped the triangle back to its original orientation as a stark reminder that history repeats itself.
The actual quilting consists of the following statement.
People are going to label this project as a series of political quilts, but I want to reiterate that no one’s sexual identity or gender identity is a political act. Our existence has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It is simply who we are, just as your sexual and gender identities are who you are. Just because you might have trouble understanding it doesn’t mean we are not deserving of the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as everyone else. But since our society seems to be insisting on making identity something that can be legislated, I feel compelled to speak out against the dangerous path our country is heading down. As of the creation of this quilt series, seven states have laws protecting LGBTQ+ youth. Seven states have no protections whatsoever. Two states have passed laws that actively endanger LGBTQ+ youth. The resulting physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harm that will result from this hateful legislation will be the fault of the legislators who voted to pass these laws, the constituents who voted these legislators into office, and all who did not speak out in defense of the children who will be harmed. And they will be harmed. When these children are abused and bullied for being their bright and beautiful selves, where are they supposed to go to seek help now? How can anyone supporting these abhorrent laws possibly believe they will be on the right side of history?
Boy Meets Quilt 