Hope for the Holidays

As the holidays come to a close and we find ourselves in the midst of the final days of 2010, we've begun to look back at the past year; where we've been, who we've met, and the stories we've shared. The NOH8 Campaign was fortunate enough to visit cities all over the country this year for the very first time, and it's still hard for us to believe there's still so many places we haven't been. What started as a small project in California has been embraced and shared all over the country, and that has given us the opportunity to plant seeds of acceptance in so many different communities. Words cannot express how grateful we are.

One of those communities was Chicago, Illinois; the area of which is hometown to half of Team NOH8, including NOH8 Photographer Adam Bouska. Not only was this the camaign's first time in Chicago; it was our first time in the Midwest!

Our Open Shoot at the W Chicago - City Center this past October 11th wasn't only our biggest shoot of 2010; the record-breaking attendance marks the highest turn-out at any NOH8 Campaign Shoot ever. Over 735 Chicago NOH8ers posed that day. To put that number into perspective, that's nearly half the amount of portraits the NOH8 Campaign shot in its first year alone!

Chicago, that's truly something to be proud of.

We plan to announce some of our upcoming 2011 travel dates in the coming days; but until then, we wish many of you safe travels as you make your way back home, and we hope you enjoyed the time you spent with your family and friends. In that same spirit of unity and togetherness, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite shots from our Chicago NOH8ers.

Thank you, Chicago; we can't wait to come back!

If you've taken a NOH8 photo and would like to submit your own BE HEARD story, please send your submission - along with a link to your photo - to info@noh8campaign.com