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Queer Compassion in 15 Comics
Phillip Joy, Andrew Thomas and Megan AstonThis unique comics anthology takes its readers on a journey through different art styles and queer perspectives, from first Prides to multigenerational friendships to finding community among chosen families. Queer Compassion in 15 Comics offers kaleidoscopic insight into the colorful, heartbreaking, empowering, funny, and diverse lives of queer people around the world by centering compassion as a way to inhabit and build community.
These comics are created by queer artists for queer audiences and with the intent of queer self-expression and representation. Social science researchers spoke to diverse members of LGBTQ+ communities to explore their beliefs about and experiences of compassion. Fifteen queer comics were commissioned to illustrate those stories, making the process of creating each comic a unique collaboration between researchers and artists, blending data and exploring the meanings of compassion for queer folks with the creativity, passion, and understanding of a queer comics artist.
These stories not only reflect the harsh realities that many queer people face but also uplift queer voices, illustrate strength, and capture queer resolve to make life more compassionate. Queer people, living in a cisheteronormative world, often face experiences of marginalization, discrimination, stigma, trauma, and invisibility in everyday life. Queer Compassion in 15 Comics shows that the titular emotion it discusses can be the bridge that brings understanding and creates community connection—a bridge that is particularly needed at this time.
With contributions from: Kay Fine, David Winters, Michelle Parker and Jey Pawlik, Jay Pahre, Elijah Forbes, Magnus van der Marel, 1ore, Jalex Noel, Emma Galloway, Daniel 'Dapper' McLaren, Fabien Lutz-Barabé
About the Editors
Phillip Joy is an assistant professor at Mount Saint Vincent University.
Andrew Thomas is currently pursuing a master of arts in counseling psychology and working as a research assistant at Mount Saint Vincent University and Dalhousie University.
Megan Aston is a Nursing Professor at Dalhousie University.
The complete manuscript of this work was subjected to a fully closed (“double-blind”) review process. For more information, please see our Peer Review Commitments and Guidelines.
- 978-1-64315-057-4 (paper)
- 978-1-64315-058-1 (open access)