Thread by @InsideEdition

#PRIDE2020 THREAD
Here’s how a young artist gained freedom by building a career out of their passion. 🏳️‍🌈🖼️ – @meliss911 + @kaludiasays
ietv.co/37SPX7O

1/ @horreurscopes’ illustrations have a striking mix of horror and beauty, with “a dash of Christian iconography.”
ietv.co/37SPX7O

2/ For @horreurscopes, it reflects their real life struggle between the only life they've ever known — and the freedom to acknowledge their true identity.
ietv.co/37SPX7O

3/ Growing up in a small town on the East Coast of Mexico, @horreurscopes — who uses they and them pronouns — struggled to fit in with their religious family and community.
ietv.co/37SPX7O

4/ It was “a very controlling and restrictive way to live, because all of your free time is consumed by this religion. You don't really have time to develop any of the other things that bring you joy as a person.” – @horreurscopes
ietv.co/37SPX7O

5/ @horreurscopes says their family devoted themselves to performing religious work before the end of the world, leaving little time to do anything else. “As I was growing up, I just always wanted more than just waiting to start my ‘real life’.”
ietv.co/37SPX7O

6/ @horreurscopes’ late grandfather was the one family member who knew there was "something different" about them, and helped inspire them to start drawing – “he used to copy the cartoons from the morning paper in the margins, and I started copying him.” 
ietv.co/37SPX7O

7/ @horreurscopes realized they were a lesbian around 14, which isn’t accepted in their family’s religion. "I just remember being like, not very shocked by the revelation. I was just like, 'Oh, that's a thing, but I'm never going to be able to act on it.”
ietv.co/37SPX7O

8/ Eventually, @horreurscopes found an LGBTQ-friendly community online, which was like a breath of fresh air. Their community on Tumblr became the only place they could be their true self, and share their art.
ietv.co/37SPX7O

9/ After starting college in the U.S., @horreurscopes’ LGBTQ community expanded, and they began dating. But on a visit home to Mexico, their parents discovered messages with their then-girlfriend on their laptop, and forbid them from going back to school.
ietv.co/37SPX7O

10/end That’s when @horreurscopes realized they couldn’t survive living like their family. "I just remember having that realization. I was just lying in the living room and I was like, 'Oh my God. I can't live my life like this.'"
ietv.co/37SPX7O

For @meliss911 & @kaludiasays’ full story How a Young Artist Gained Freedom by Building a Career Out of Their Passion:
ietv.co/37SPX7O #PRIDE2020