Newsletter: AZ Comes Out for Equality

The NOH8 Campaign recently held an open shoot at the W Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona on July 12th, and we had an amazing turnout of over 400 supporters. With the current controversy over immigration laws, it was important for us to bring the message of NOH8 to the people of Arizona.

Arizona is only the third state outside California to be added to the NOH8 roster after New York and Florida, and we hope to continue bringing the campaign to other cities and states around the country in the coming months. Thanks to the press from ABC, CBS, and FOX for visiting us and helping to get the word out! You can check out MyFOXPhoenix.com's article and video on the shoot here.

We've also just announced an open shoot in Seattle to be held next month on August 23rd to open up the opportunity for our supporters in the Northwest to get involved. You can find out more information by visiting the event page here.

Some of those who came out to support us in Arizona sent in their own candid photos from the shoot, so we thought we'd share some of them with all of you!

"I went with my best friend to the W Scottsdale for the NOH8 shoot.. It was a great bonding experience for us, and it was eye opening to hear all the different reasons from others in the room on why this shoot was important to them. The lounge atmosphere while waiting to be photographed invited lots of mingling and conveyed a strong sense of unity among all of us gathered there. Adam and his staff were extremely nice and made you feel so at ease and comfortable." - John James Preston

Jae and her friend were the first NOH8ers to arrive, so they spent some time practicing their poses before the shoot began.

AZ Native Bloggers Lady La, Miss.Summer, and Shew - otherwise known as The Fresh Fiends - covered their experience at the shoot for their blog, which includes even more photos from the event.

We also had some participants from our open shoot during San Francisco Pride send in some photos that we didn't have a chance to share in our last blog post.

Surrogate Moms: Kelly (far left) poses with two of her friends before stepping in front of Adam's camera. They also sent us a photo from the Pride Parade on Sunday. All three women are surrogate mothers for gay fathers, and wanted to show their support for the community by coming together for a special photo. These women make incredible sacrifices for the sake of creating families for those in our community, and we can't begin to thank them enough for wanting to get involved with our campaign. Kelly's blog promises a Why I Posed that we can't wait to read!

While some of our participants show up in groups, others brave the day on their own. SF NOH8 Supporter Alex Jordan sent in his own shot as well.

For those waiting on San Francisco photos, they should be ready any day now. We're excited to share the finished photos with all of you!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to both shoots!