The Gay Rights movement is an important part of our history and culture, and has even had influences

on art. The work of artists taking part in the movement or emotionally connected to it in some way has helped to document and express the movement at its core, and the struggle that has gone into it. Gay artists in particular are obviously more in-tune with and interested in the struggle of rights and the perception the world has of LGBT individuals. For years, all around the world, LGBT people have struggled to right wrongs stemming from prejudice, misunderstanding, and misconception. The movement attempts to bring equal rights to the LGBT community and has succeeded in many avenues. Some of the biggest issues of the movement include the right to same-sex marriage, the right to adopt, and the attempt to change some of the misconceptions in society about LGBT individuals, and other connected things, such as AIDS. Artists are a big part of the attempt to assist in disproving anti-gay propaganda. Steve Walker was one such artist. Steve Walker, born into a military family in Ottawa, Canada, had never had a problem with his sexuality. It was other people that would judge based on sexual orientation, which was something with which he took issue. He couldnt really understand why some people would hate or support him just for something so simplistic. Still, there would always be people out there that didnt understand that for him, being gay was just a fact of life. Though he aspired to be an actor for a long time, something wound up changing his mind. AIDS had suddenly become a major concern, and its effect on the gay community was chaotic. New misconceptions and fears were being supported by a large majority of the world, centering around homosexual men. AIDS was even called the gay cancer for a period of time, despite the actual disease not being confined to gay couples. Heterosexual couples were equally at-risk, as were drug users that shared unclean needles. It was spread

through bodily fluids, and had nothing to do with being gay. Still, a lot of people not only blamed gay people for the spread; they also blamed them for the disease itself. Steve couldnt stand for this or the haze of hatred and propaganda that constantly surrounded the people around him in those days. In order to help change the image surrounding gay men, Steve used his considerable artistic talent to paint what was familiar to him; his life as a gay man, and the things involved in it. He chose art because, while he could not cure the disease, he felt that he could help cure the unnecessary hatred it invoked. He saw no reason that heterosexual patrons of the arts shouldnt respond or identify with his artwork; after all, he identified with the work of heterosexual artists. Using his art, he began to challenge hateful ideas, and show being gay as something natural and beautiful, like any other love, rather than something depraved and perverse like much of America seemed to assume. Its safe to say that his work affected quite a few people, as he gained some fame within the art world, and a website about him even described him as a internationally acclaimed gay artist. One can only hope that he also helped with his original goal; to lessen the ignorance and fear with which most people considered the gay lifestyle. The piece chosen is one of Steve Walkers most powerful. It is entitled Some Familys Values and was painted in 1995. It happens to be a painting within a painting, and depicts a typical American family -a woman, a man, and a child- in an art gallery, viewing a picture of two men together on a bed, half-clothed. The men are drawn in Walkers typical style, which tends to glorify the male form slightly, and are therefore rather muscled and golden, leaving the family looking slightly dull and less dramatic in comparison. The space around the painting theyre viewing is simplistic, creating emphasis on the figures that are the focus of the picture. The family observing has very intriguing body language- the father is holding the sons

hand, while the mother clutches her own hands behind her back. They seem formal, but not uncomfortable, but at the same time seem to be withdrawing slightly from the painting, as if disconnected. The most interesting thing about the painting is that the message is in the details; its all very nuanced. As Steve Walker himself said; I see my work as a documentation, an interpretation, a crystallization of singular moments rendered in line, color, light, shadow, using a hundred brushes, a thousand colors, and a million brushstrokes. I strive to make people stop, if only a moment, think and actually feel something. My paintings contain as many questions as answers. This is true. Looking at even just this painting brings up a variety of questions and a desire for more information about the story behind it. His work brings with it thoughtfulness, which actually was his original intention. This piece is a perfect expression of this movement because it not only evokes thought; it also displays the idea of changing perceptions, which was the artists mission when he began to create. Its a particularly evocative piece as its not just about the movement itself, but also about outsiders reflection on it and their views. Though the message is subtle, it manages to both induce contemplation and emotional attachment, and it really expresses the feel of the movement.