Phoenix is all open desert, dry, triple-digit heat, and beautiful sunsets or at least, that’s what Instagram would lead you to believe.
The origin story of the city’s moniker, a mythical bird that burns to ashes, only to rise again, is all too familiar to Beatrice Velzquez, a youth center program coordinator at One n Ten, a nonprofit in Phoenix that serves LGBT youth. Seeking that kind of cleansing resurrection is what drove Velzquez to create Veme: Queering Phoenix, a photography project that seeks to lift up positive representations of young LGBT people of color in Phoenix.
“Veme” in Spanish is a command an order to be seen and to be present. Velzquez says they picked Veme, which translates directly as “See me,” because it represents the concept that I was trying to make sure was portrayed in the work, which is the necessity to create visibility for queer youth of color and not be apologetic about it.
By Yesmin Villareal – Full Story at The Advocate
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