Left to right: Terence holding Squirt and his husband Elvin
Click to play the sound bite
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Research Notes: This photoshoot was originally scheduled weeks ago. Busy schedules (and bad weather) created a series of delays and we were only able to photograph Terence and Elvin out in East Boston this past weekend. As most of you know, just over a week ago, there was a shooting in Orlando, Florida, which claimed the lives of 49 beautiful souls and injured 53 –the majority of whom were gay and of African American and Latino heritage.
This tragedy really hits close to my heart. Julio, the other half of this project, is a gay Puerto Rican male. I also have many relatives and friends who are gay. I simply can’t imagine a world without them in it. However, being African-American, I understand very well how it feels to be judged, disliked, and hated for simply being who you were born to be. And while we have come very far as a nation in regards to acknowledging the Civil Rights of all, last week’s events are a prime example of us, as a country, having a lot more work to do.
Today’s family, husband and husband Terence and Elvin, kindly invited us into their beautiful home in East Boston. And while East Boston is extraordinarily loud—home to I-90 and Logan International Airport—tolerance must be even louder and we must silence the hate.
This photoshoot is dedicated to the LGBTQ community, those impacted by this senseless tragedy, and to unity, love, tolerance, compassion, and understanding.
Name: Terence Harrell and Elvin Zayas-Lai
Date: 6/19/2016, 1:00 p,
Neighborhood: East Boston, Boston
Occupation: PR/Marketing Associate and Interior Architect, respectively
On a scale of 1-10 , how loud? Terence: 6-7 ; Elvin: 2
Actual decibel level: 80.1 dBA (outside, front of house) and 47.3 dBA (outside, back yard)
Tell us about the noise in your neighborhood:
Elvin: I’m not really bothered by the noise here, just traffic and people walking up and down the wooden stairs in our apartment building.
Terence: Noise levels tends to be up and down. I live next to a church so you always hear people walking and talking and lots of children. The community is also very heavily populated with a young latino crowd so lots of fast car and loud music.
