Towering, 8-foot-tall portraits have stood proud on the Boston Common all month — a stark contrast to the hidden life many of these LGBTQ+ leaders once lived.
Decades ago, Elyse Cherry would spend her weekends involved in the underground LGBTQ+ community. But once the week started, it was a different story.
“People would use — if you’ve ever heard the phrase — ‘Monday morning pronouns,’” said Cherry. “What it meant was you came in and talked about your weekend, but you never actually were clear about the gender of the people that you would spend it with.”
Today Cherry is recognized as one of the most influential members of her community, serving as CEO of BlueHub Capital — a nonprofit dedicated to improving low-income communities — after chairing a variety of board and councils within the commonwealth, most notably the board of MassEquality from 2004 to 2006 during the organization's historic fight for marriage equality.
Her portrait and her story now lines the path to the Boston Public Gardens for “Portraits of Pride,” an exhibition conceptualized by Jean Dolin and executed by photographer John Huet. The 22 portraits all feature prominent members of the city’s LGBTQ+ community and are paired with a blurb offering the subject's take on the concept of pride. The Boston Common exhibition and a more intimate presentation in the Seaport are on display through Oct. 29 to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month.
In the weeks since their unveiling, the portraits have attracted many admirers. But they’ve also been subject to vandalism. This past week, Dolin said that four of the photographs were slashed down in the middle. And on the morning of their debut earlier this month, Dolin found the portrait of Boston’s inaugural LGBTQ+ advancement chief, Quincey Roberts Sr., covered in permanent marker.
“I knew this was going to happen to someone, if not all of us,” said Roberts. “But — and this sounds weird to a lot of people — I'm glad it happened to me, because I was prepared for it. Someone else may have [taken] it a whole ‘nother way.”
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Dolin noted the love he observed for the pieces in the following weeks.
“People are seeing people protecting them,” he said. “One of them fell because of the wind, and I was just walking there and I noticed two strangers just picked it up and [pulled] it back up. So people are interacting with the exhibition in ways that I could not have foreseen or even imagine.”
Roberts said his mother raised him to be an active role model and champion for members of the community. That message continues to compels him today.
“I have to show young folks that it's OK to be different, because I didn't see that. When I was 7 years old in Henderson, North Carolina, I didn't have any examples,” said Roberts. “We are real models. We're not role models. What we do sometimes can be dangerous, and 'Portraits of Pride' shows the authenticity, the boldness, as well as the creativity of this community.”
David Leonard, president of the Boston Public Library and another one of the project’s subjects, also wanted to communicate a feeling of community and normalcy in his portrait.
“As we see efforts around the country and around the world that are pushing back on rights that are — have already been — acknowledged for the LGBTQ community, maybe this small but important visual project acts as an antidote to some of those efforts,” said Leonard.
"Portraits of Pride" is on display through Oct. 29 on Boston Common and at 60 Seaport Blvd. Future installations of the exhibit are expected for Boston Pride in 2023.
