The theme for the Lebo Pride Celebration 2023 is transition. Everyone everywhere experiences transitions, not just transgender people. Our life’s milestones such as birthdays, quinceañeras, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and funerals mark macro transitions. Then there’s the micro transitions like when you leave work to go home to your family, your role and whole mindset transitions away from being an employee to being a member of your household.
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”
—Chuang Tzu
Transitions are a natural part of life and the butterfly’s transition from a caterpillar is symbolizing it this year. Local Mt. Lebanon artist, Meredith Driscoll, designed the beautiful Lebo Pride Celebration 2023 poster.
There’s also the additional layer that recognizes the unique mental health challenges people from the queer and gender diverse community goes through. The rate of suicide is higher in our community, especially in those who do not receive gender affirming care. It is important to live authentically as our true selves. Become a butterfly.
Check out how Driscoll became her own muse by taking her own reference photos for the complicated poses, and the transformation the artwork took before its final form in the gallery below.
In the poster, the human caterpillar transcends from their feelings of worthlessness, blue and in the fetal position, into self-confidence, the soaring butterfly, through love. The journey is not always linear. It’s not always straight. It’s not always clear. But it is worth it.
