“We might reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom.
But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion.”
—His Holiness the Dalai Lama
But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion.”
—His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Compassion has been recognized by many 2SLGBTQ+ people as a component of their happiness and well-being.
With this research, we seek to understand through personal narratives how experiences of compassion shape the lives, health, and well-being of 2S/LGBTQ+ people.
Findings from the study will be shared through a comic book anthology.
Each comic in this collection is a blending of our data exploring the meanings of compassion for queer folx with the creativity, passion, and experiences of a queer comic artist. We commissioned 15 comics from artists in Canada, United States, Greece, India, and Scotland.
Our themes are not distinct – they merge, overlap, and have fuzzy edges that blurs any lines of classification – in this way they are distinctly queer, including 1) Compassion is Shared Trauma, 2) Compassion is Activism and Mentorship, 3) Compassion is (Re)Learning, 4) Compassion is Connections and Communities, and 5) Compassion is New Ways of Being.
Check out our artist Kay Fine creating the cover art
And a few sample images from the anthology below!
The complete anthology COMING SOON so stay tuned!
Mark and Jaden in the comic Entropy written and illustrated by Jalex Noel. Two men merge like stray stars, attracted to each other’s gravity in the vastness of universe. Through alignment, they reach compassion for themselves and for each other, pulsing echoes of careness they never had before.
Check out the character design for Mark and Jaden
In Effeminared: Under the Lucky Star written and illustrated by Anwesh Sahoo, the young Anay is abused as friends become tormentors – the only reason for these attacks is because Anay is not like the other boys. Sahoo filled the comic with personal experiences of growing up and drew inspiration for the character Sarita Tayi from a well-known trans activist in India.
In Neighborhood Rhapsody by Joe Phillips a neighbor reaches out and finds the music that connects us all.
Transformative Compassion is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
