13 Love Stories to Counter Prop. 8

As the California supreme court gears up to announce its ruling on the validity of Prop. 8 on Tuesday, this collection of love stories from UCLA Art | Global Health Center gets at the heart of the fight for marriage equality.

An Advocate.com exclusive posted March 4, 2009

Back in March, when the California supreme court sat down to hear oral arguments for and against Proposition 8, UCLA Art | Global Health Center rolled out a multimedia project by South African photographer Gideon Mendel titled 13 Love Stories . Now, as the court gears up to announce its ruling on Tuesday, the videos are as poignant as ever.

The project tells the stories of 13 LGBT married couples -- mostly from Riverside and Los Angeles counties -- in their own words. The racial and ethnic diversity of the group shows how Prop. 8 attacks the rights of a large cross-section of Californians.

Mendel led the creative efforts for 13 Love Stories. He has spent years documenting the plight of AIDS in Africa and, in 2007, photographed 12 individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles for an emotionally moving project called HIV Positive in L.A.

All of the 13 videos are available to view here on Advocate.com. For more information on the 13 Love Stories project, visit www.13LoveStories.com.

Check back to Advocate.com on Tuesday for continued coverage of Prop. 8.

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Keywords: Prop 8

Related stories from Advocate.com

2009-05-29: Pastors: No Marriage for Straight People
2009-05-28: Aftermath: Day of Decision
2009-05-28: Obama in L.A., But No Prop 8 Comment
2009-05-27: Gloria Allred on Losing Prop. 8
2009-05-27: Prop 8 Reaction: Tim Gunn

Reader Comments

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Name: Dan
Date posted: 2009-05-22 8:24 PM
Hometown: Austin, Texas

Comment:

I think the best ads were the ones that conveyed emotion and also gave good, sound reasons why we should have equal marriage rights. The ad where a partner was diagnosed with cancer was powerful. At the end, he said, "I'm at peace knowing that my partner can have those benefits." The moment where a man said, "Britney can get married for like 5 minutes and we've been together for 31 years and we're denied that right," his voice cracking with emotion, was great. The ad with two Asian women was one of the better ones in giving good reasons. You have to do both: provide reasons and elicit empathy. The music should be emotive as well. Point out that prejudice is wrong: no one wants to see themselves as prejudiced. Several ads reminded me that most of the 18,000 people who've married will still be married years from now. People will get used to them and see that the sky hasn't fallen. An ad pointing out that Massachusetts is doing fine would be good too.

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