Hawai‘i Family Portraits will be on display in the Library for public viewing, from September 20 through October 15, during Library hours (M-Th: 8am-6pm, Friday: 10am-4pm, closed weekends).
Hawai‘i Family Portraits is a project by the Equality Hawai‘i Foundation (with support from The Gill Foundation and Hawai‘i People's Fund) that invites viewers to take a journey with some of Hawai‘i’s families ... sharing their joys, tears, tragedies and triumphs as they negotiate life in The Aloha State.
The families in these photographs are unique. Daily, they face discrimination, denial of rights, rejection and persecution because of who they are or who they love.
They are parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) children. They are GLBT parents themselves, raising beautiful, vibrant children. They are GLBT couples, simply trying to build lives together. They are individuals, some abandoned or misunderstood by their biological families, finding safety and love with a chosen, extended ’ohana.
Although very different in their composition and experiences, these families are bound by a common thread ... a unifying sense of love, devotion and commitment that conquers all challenges.
Captured through the lens of professional photographer Mike Ang, these family portraits expand community’s definition of family ... an expansion that embraces, nurtures and celebrates all families in our state of Aloha.
The Hawai‘i Family Portraits display is presented at the UH Maui Library in conjunction with National Constitution Month. These portraits are being displayed alongside books and media that bring awareness to the contemporary issues surrounding constitutional rights.
For additional information about the exhibit at UH Maui College Library, please contact librarian Ellen Peterson.
