Alumni Steve Llanusa and Glenn Miya have been together ever since they met on campus in 1984. They adopted three foster sons, now teenagers, and have a long history of shared responsibilities. But even after 25 years of being together, Llanusa and Miya were not able to legally marry until this summer.
They were only married for three months before Proposition 8 passed in early November.
Now, as part of an effort to increase the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, Llanusa and Miya are putting their relationship and history on display.
The UCLA Art|Global Health Center is presenting “13LoveStories.com,” a free multimedia exhibition featuring love stories of 13 LGBT couples, including Llanusa and Miya’s story, at Bruin Plaza Thursday. The event will also include a concert with Adam Stern and Friends.
“(This project) is a transformative art,” Llanusa said. “It will give people reference points if they want to re-examine their view either for or against Proposition 8. They can see that a living breathing family wil be affected by their decisions.”
The idea for “13LoveStories.com” came from the head of UCLA Art|Global Health Center, David Gere, and famed South African photographer, Gideon Mendel. Both were working on a project that dealt with people who had HIV. Because Mendel was going to be in Los Angeles planning the project, he also wanted to work on a new project that dealt with another serious issue.
“I asked (Gere) what was the key hot issue in California that we should try to tackle,” Mendel said, “and the response was that Proposition 8 was the issue that we should be trying to address.”
From there, the idea of a photo exhibition developed. About 70 couples applied to be part of the project, and 13 were chosen to represent the LGBT community.
“For me as a transgender, I have the privilege of passing (as) straight,” said project participant Kalil Gonzales-Cohen. “But it’s not telling all that I am. It is important for me to stand up and show people that I am part of the LGTB group.”
Even those who were able to get married before Proposition 8 passed still felt the need to fight for equality.
“My husband and I were able to be married before the election and before Proposition 8, but we still feel it is important to fight for the right because it is not settled yet,” said fellow participant Travis Siems. “What I hope is that people will see that we are people trying to be familes, that we are families. Hopefully they will see that this is not just an issue affecting two men or two women who are married, but people with families, people with children. It is a family issue.”
Aside from the 13 chosen couples, UCLA students also participated in the project. The project’s co-curator Janna Shadduck-Hernandez and her world arts and culture class on participatory photography and video helped put together each couple’s stories. 15 students from the class were assigned a couple and were the ones who spent the most time with them, listening to their stories.
“Before, we were just contacting the couples, getting to know each other,” said second-year world arts and culture student KK Cressman. “We worked on the project for the whole winter quarter. We’re basically trying to get the word out there.”
Students from the class also put together a photo album of the couples, featuring pictures from each couple’s personal archive. The photo albums will be added to Mendel’s portraits to accompany the exhibition.
“I hope that when people look at the photo album we created, they’ll get a feeling as to how they can relate one of the stories of the 13 families to their own lives,” Cressman said. “This project is just about opening up people’s minds.”
There is a multimedia aspect to the project as it incorporates YouTube videos of each couple, which are currently on the web at 13LoveStories.com.
“This project is just about equal rights,” producer of the project and former Daily Bruin sports editor, Robert Gordon, said. “No one is asking for extra rights, no one is asking about special treatments, they are just asking to be treated equally. One of the couples has been in a loving relationship for 31 years, and the fact that they can’t get married while a straight person can meet someone on the street and get married the next day, (is) ridiculous.”
Many of the 13 couples will be at the photo exhibition to give a firsthand account of their stories.