The LGBT Love and Affection Project

Inspired by the silent act of love and revolution: holding hands.

January 30th marks the 5th annual same-sex hand holding event, a campaign developed by David Watkins to inspire and support same-sex couples who want to hold their partner's hand in public.

Holding hands seems to be a very simple act that displays a very simple message.

But this campaign really gets at the root of something much bigger than that: the importance of positive LGBT visibility, and the power that being out and proud has over challenging and influencing individual and societal attitudes of what it means to be an LGBT person.

To quote David Watkins' website: “...‘when you're trying just to be thought of as a human being, the smallest victories feel like huge ones.’ You don't have to fight to change the world. Promote love and equality by the simple act of holding hands.” To learn more about his mission and work, visit www.adayinhand.com.

So here at everybodysgood.com, we’d like to show our admiration and appreciation for the campaign, and introduce it as a perfect kick-off for our LGBT Love and Affection Project that we’re declaring for the month of February. We, too, recognize the significance of positive visibility and representation with regard to our overall health and well-being, both as individuals and as a community. And we want to bring that powerful message home to our community here in Rochester, the Finger Lakes Region and Southern Tier.

We invite you to submit a photo of you and your partner(s) holding hands, hugging, kissing, gazing into one another’s eyes, or some other form of (appropriate) affection. The photos can, but do not have to, include your faces – it’s entirely up to you and what you feel comfortable with. The only thing we do ask of you is that you include the image to the right somehow somewhere in the photo (or a similar looking image of your own creative design). Simply print it out and hold it, or draw it on your hands, or on a piece of clothing, etc.

Beginning on February 1st, the photos we receive will be featured here on the homepage of everybodysgood.com all month long. Each photo will be on the home page for a day or two, and then we'll add it to this blog below, so that by the end of the month we'll have 28 or more photos of beautiful queer people in our community making a difference by showing some love. We'll be taking submissions throughout the entire month,and adding them onto the site as we get them. So spread the word!

Please send all photos in an email to aanka@acRochester.org. We look forward to hearing from you. As always, thank you so much for your support!