Pride, 2023

When Assigned At Birth doesn't fit. When gender isn't conveniently binary. When dysphoria is ever present. When simply being who you are sets you apart. When simply loving who you love puts you at risk.

When you are told you are not enough. When you are told you are not welcome. When you are told you are not worthy.

We humans come in all sorts of wonderful flavors. None of us fit nicely inside a box.

You are a beloved child of God and always will be.

You are my pride.

As a tribute to Gwen and all the other LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, I offer you a garden of lovely flowers, each a bit exotic, a bit unruly, and totally unique. They push beyond the boundaries of the frame as they demand to be given the freedom to live fully as who they truly are. They refuse to hide. They refuse to be cowed. They refuse to become the scapegoat of those greedy for political power and willing to use any means to get it. They celebrate. They sing. They stand tall, knowing that they, too, belong in this garden.

Pride uses the five sliders of the editart.xyz interface as follows:

• Slider #1 controls all the random functionality of the price. Slide it to explore different configurations of your flower.
• Slider #2 controls the background color - the red, orange , yellow, green, indigo or violet of the Pride flag.
• Slider #3 controls the text color. These choices too are from various community flags. They are the neutrals of white, black, gray, and brown. The text itself is taken from the poem above and is embedded visually in the outputs in the form of asemic script.
• Slider #4 controls the transparency of the layers of the piece. Slide it from left to right to move from more delicate petals to those that are bold and opaque. The petal colors are also drawn from the colors used by the various community flags.
• Slider #5 allows you to imprint the dedication, "For Gwen" on the piece or to create an output without the dedication.

I invite you to come grow some flowers of your own.

Love and creativity always,

Wanda