The exhibit has traveled to more than 1,000 communities over the past decade.
YOUNGSTOWN — The touring exhibit of "Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and their Families" visits Youngstown State University Monday through Friday in the Presidential Suites of Kilcawley Center.
The exhibit comes to YSU with the help of YSUnity (YSU's Gay-Straight Alliance), YSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, the Office of Student Diversity Programs, the Youngstown Area PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter and the Pride Center of Greater Youngstown, in partnership with the Equality Ohio Education Fund.
The exhibit will be open Monday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. A special community reception will be held on Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The display
The touring photo-text display created by the award-winning Family Diversity Projects of Amherst, Mass., invites viewers to come face-to-face with LGBT people and their families.
"Ohio is not a welcoming place for LGBT people and their families," said Chris Campf, president of YSUnity. "We hope these photos will help cut through all the political arguments right to the heart of the issue by showing the love, caring and connection that are so basic to all families."
Since it began touring in 1996, the exhibit has traveled to more than 1,000 communities.
"There are LGBT people and families in every Ohio county, not just in our big cities," said Andrea Wood, manager of New Media and Engagement at Equality Ohio. "We hope the exhibit will encourage discussion about what life is like for them."
Photographs depict a variety of LGBT people and their families of all races in familiar family settings. The photos are accompanied by text from in-depth interviews conducted with each family member.