The challenges faced by transgender and gender-variant people over age 50 is the focus of a multimedia project opening March 3 in Mount Vernon.
“To Survive on This Shore” features photographs of and interviews with more than 40 people, documenting the ways they have dealt with the often-intertwined issues of gender, identity, age and sexuality. The project is sponsered by Chase Brexton Health Care, where it will be displayed, and Maryland Institute College of Art.
"We intentionally seek out subjects whose experiences exist within the complex intersections of gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic class and geographic location," Jess T. Dugan, the project's photographer, said in a news release. "Though everyone in our project identifies somewhere along the transgender spectrum, there is no single narrative that captures the varied paths that lead to gender discovery or transition."
Added Nate Sweeney, executive director of Chase Brexton Health Care’s LGBT Health Resource Center, “For many LGBT identified people, seeing our elders gives us a chance to see our own futures, and that can be crucially important for someone who is struggling with accepting and loving themselves today.”
Baltimore stories will be added to the show on May 17, as part of National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day.
Dugan will be on hand for an opening reception and discussion, set for 5 p.m. March 3 at Chase Brexton Health Care, 1111 N. Charles St. In addition, Dugan will appear as a guest lecturer at MICA on March 1. His lecture is set for 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. in room M110 of MICA’s main building, at 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave.
“To Survive on This Shore” is set to remain on exhibit at Chase Brexton through June 24.
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