Getty Images, in collaboration with GLAAD, has announced $25,000 in grants for photographers and videographers who create images of chosen families, increasing visibility of the LGBTQ+ community while also challenging harmful, cliched visual stereotypes.“This grant will provide financial support and mentorship to content creators who are authentically showcasing and exploring celebrations, events’ and actions across a broad range of people and groups that are part of ‘chosen families,’ outside of stereotypical Pride celebration imagery,” according to a Getty Images press release. “This includes celebrations, new family norms, and cultural traditions as they relate to LGBTQ+ communities around the world.”“Our VisualGPS global research shows that less than 1 percent of visuals in media and advertising show members of the LGBTQ+ community and those mainly focus on Pride celebrations as a defining event across the community,” Dr.
Rebecca Swift, global head of creative insights at Getty Images, said in the release. “This grant aims to portray connections across the LGBTQ+ community, visualizing people coming together to embrace, nurture, love, and support each other, irrespective of traditional familial ties.”“Authentic and diverse media images of our community not only make LGBTQ people feel safe and seen but educate the general public on the truth about our lives and the common ground we all share,” added GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.