Other flowers, a photo album of queer childhoods

"They say that there are more than two hundred different varieties of cherry trees and that their flowers are not

always roses" reads the back cover of Other Flowers. “ Nobody would dare to tell a flower when it has to come out, how it has to behave or what color it has to be; just exists and its beauty and variety make this world a more beautiful place, diverse and exciting.

Tender words for those who should have heard them more often in childhood. An acknowledgment of innocence of those childhood moments that many people have remembered with shame and anger for so long. This is the summary that invites you to delve into the testimonies of the seventy five people who participated in the creation of the book.

Xavi Reyes, selector and editor of the collection, in one of his childhood photographs.

A COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM THE PAST TO HEAL THE PRESENT

compiled by Xavi Reyes and with a foreword Valerie Vegas, This album brings together photographs of its participants at an early age, along with brief testimonials that accompany them. Memories that are sometimes sad and painful, sometimes warm, happy and funny, but that share something essential: that awareness that, even then, there was something in another's gaze that judged and punished adorable and innocent behaviors for not conforming to the norm.

Our childhoods are different Valeria Vegas tells in the prologue. “Ours have a nuance that distinguishes them, where there is another first time that can be like a slap without hands. That first time you are aware that you are different without further explanation." That encounter at an early age with such a harsh reality has marked countless people, and many times it is necessary to go back over those moments with an adult gaze to realize the truth. Of the character that existed before the environment began to correct the spontaneity of childhood.

"This lack of filter is the one now we see in many photographs ; images that were frozen magically capturing an instant, a gesture , a hand placed in a certain way, the shine in the eyes or the satisfaction of wearing clothes that do not belong to you , feeling them more yours than ever and long before discovering the concept of taboo”.

Andrés Borque in his childhood photograph.

Lluís Garau shares this childhood photo of him in 'Other flowers'.

The idea for this compilation arose at Christmas during the pandemic. After finding a photo, one of the many in which he posed with a delicate gesture, Xavi began to think about that boy who loved the camera, in that uninhibited attitude before the external judgment came. “I felt ashamed for that attitude that was born so spontaneously in the past and had been repressed over time,” he says in the introduction.

When he finally decided to share the photo, the reaction was so positive that it inspired him to gather more photos with the associated experiences of him. “I ventured to make a call of childhood photos queer to my contacts, share them and show them to the world”, he recounts. “That day and the following ones I was invaded by a sensation that I had never experienced before: healing my fears was also healing something in others . The idea of ​​expanding the material and publishing the project was an organic consequence and fruit of all the people who believed that something beautiful and valuable was being created; a gift".

but other flowers It's not just a collection of Photographs and experiences. “The intention of this book is to celebrate diversity, shout out what we have experienced, from compassion and tenderness, and make visible that violence continues to rage freely while some insist on convincing us that everything is already done”, Xavi tells Condé Nast Traveler.

He reminds us how important it is protect those who are now vulnerable, to those who continue to grow up in an unequal and cruel world with everything different. "That our children grow up free and happy should not be a matter of luck and privilege, should be a priority of the institutions so that society advances healthy, free from fear and, consequently, from violence and discrimination”.

Adrián Rubio shares his memories with this image.

Isaac Nicolás in the image that appears in the collection.

‘QUEER’ CHILDHOODS

Despite the path traveled since the stories told in this album, there is still much to be done, and we live in times in which even the victories achieved are in danger. Even basic rights like abortion are threatened in places where they are already established, and the same conservative voices trying to undermine them continue to stirring up hatred against the LGTBI+ community.

One of the most recurrent attacks is pass the realities queer as inherently sexual, unsuitable for minors, obscene . Instrumentalize the protection of childhood to expose children only to monogamous and heterosexual relationships under the pretext of normality, while all those sensations, those doubts related to LGBT, remain in the drawer of the bad, the perverse.

In this context, it is as important as it has always been to remember that childhoods queer exist, they have always existed and will always exist no matter how much they are hidden under layers of humiliation and shame. The voices that make up other flowers They are just a few of the thousands that have always been there, waiting for the right moment to be able to show up without fear. And they remember, once again, the need for references for the little ones, for positive and reassuring stories that protect them from the hostility of the environment.

Alessandra Garcia in her childhood photo.

Rubén Gómez Vacas in the photograph that appears in the album.

brave, funny, endearing stories, of first loves, of rage, of uncertainty… Anyone can feel identified”.

TWO MUSTACHES, LITERATURE AGAINST SILENCE

Gonzalo Izquierdo and Alberto Rodriguez created this independent publisher, specialized in LGTBI issues, feminism and gender, in 2014. They seek to highlight works that have not received the deserved diffusion, both by Spanish and foreign authors, all hand in hand with an activism that never ceases to be essential.

“We are aware that we are living in a historic moment in which social conquests that we thought entrenched are once again at risk”, they explain. “What has happened in the United States with the abortion law is just a sample of it. The LGTBIQ+ collective it continues to be targeted by those who see it as a threat to what they consider to be the 'natural order' of things. That is why it is more important than ever to continue working on the visibility of diversity, in offering references and in generating empathy through stories that can help us put ourselves in the place of others”.