Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:42 p.m. Monday to correct the spelling of Gwen Andersen’s last name.
Clad in rainbow-striped sneakers, Rockville photographer Gwen Andersen bounded through the hallways of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville.
“This is my favorite that I took,” she said, pointing to a photo on the wall of a person with their face painted with neon speckles and squiggles, shining under a blacklight, with echoes of the same image repeating itself throughout the print. “This isn’t photoshopped! I did this all with my camera.”
“Becoming Ourselves,” a photography exhibit showcasing transgender and nonbinary joy, opened on Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, 100 Welsh Park Drive. The monthlong exhibit, organized by Andersen, features trans people from both the local community and across the country engaging in their favorite hobbies and activities, performing their jobs, or posing joyfully. It includes a mix of photos taken by Anderson, local photographers and photographers from all over the country.
The photos depict people ranging in age from preteens to the elderly and includes images of teachers, pastors, athletes and models. There are pictures of people proudly showing off their gender-affirming top surgery scars, singing along at concerts and playing in a roller derby league. The poster-sized photos were selected by a panel of trans youth from across the country in January.
“The kids really loved the action shots, and they loved the shots that were more environmental,” Andersen, 54, said.
The project was funded in part by Andersen’s friend Stevie Neal, a trans woman who lived in Montgomery County until she died. She left part of her estate to fund a trans photography project. The project also received support from the MoCo Pride Center and Jabari Lyles Consulting, an LGBTQ+ inclusion consulting firm based in Baltimore.
Anderson said she’s been overwhelmed by the support for the project and response to the exhibit, and that it’s been fulfilling to see some of the subjects of the photos react to being featured in a public art installation.
“It was wonderful to see them up. It’s so astounding to see your art huge and on the wall,” Anderson said. “It was terrific, and people were really dazzled to see themselves.”
There also is a wall where attendees can attach their own photos of themselves as part of the exhibit.
Andersen’s goal was to showcase positivity in midst of a largely negative news cycle of gender-affirming care bans across the country. She said platforming trans joy is especially timely and pertinent in the wake of the recent death of Nex Benedict, a trans teenager from Oklahoma who was the subject of bullying and died the day after they were involved in a fight in a school bathroom. Their school district is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education.
Emery, a teenager featured in the exhibit and Andersen’s formal youth adviser for the project, told MoCo360 in December that the photos are important representation for trans youth. Emery’s photo shows him dressed up as the character Hiccup from the How To Train Your Dragon books and movies. Emery sewed the costume himself and aspires to a career in theatrical costume design.
“Representation is incredibly important in getting people to see the humanity in different types of people. We’re humans, not monsters that have been demonized to create fear,” said Emery, who did not want his last name published. “We’re human and we enjoy sewing, and reading and being with our families like everyone else.”
Congregant and county resident Julia Earp said she found the exhibit impactful as a trans person, and that she wished she’d been able to see something like it as a child.
“I like that [Andersen] shows joy, given that almost every trans article you see is very bleak,” Earp said. “I had no representation growing up. This is beautiful.”
Earp said her favorite part was that trans youth picked the photos.
“The youth are the ones among us who really have heart,” Earp said. “And they’re really getting the brunt of the ugliness right now.”
The exhibit is open to the public for viewing at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. It runs until March 31.
It will culminate in two keynote community events, Andersen said.
The congregation will host an allyship workshop open to the public on March 23 to help community members understand how to be better allies to the trans community.
On the March 31 Transgender Day of Visibility, the congregation’s sermon will focus on the meaning of the day and will be followed by a discussion hosted by Andersen, LGBTQ+ leaders and some of the subjects of the photographs.
Part of the reason Andersen connected with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville for the exhibit is because of its history as a local safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. As early as the late 1960s, the congregation hosted safe dance parties for LGBTQ+ county residents. It has also been host to an LGBTQ+ youth group for several years.
“Nobody cared about us in those days, and if anybody cared, they didn’t care about our being happy. They cared about therapy, and talking about us being miserable,” said Andersen, who is a lesbian. “But this church has been here for us. You couldn’t have gotten a more loving, wholehearted venue for this.”
Andersen said she is looking for another potential venue to host the photographs when the exhibit ends. Her eventual goal is to raise enough funds through donations to send the prints to the subjects featured in them.
More information on the exhibit and fundraiser is available at www.becomingourselves.org.