When 18-year-old Jasper Behrends began working on the concentration section of his AP Studio Art Exhibit, a clear focus emerged: gender, sexuality, and body dysphoria.
Lofty topics for a high school student, sure, but Jasper wasn’t exactly shooting in the dark. The transgender teen faced challenging questions around these topics every day, and had an opportunity to really say something in his work.
The school’s vice principal disagreed.
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“After starting my concentration, the school vice principal came to me after my art teacher informed the administration about my ‘potentially sensitive’ concentration subject,” Jasper told Pride. “He said that although he had ‘no problem’ with the LGBTQ theme, there is a ‘time and a place’ for ‘these things’ and that it did not belong in public schools.”
We are incredibly happy to report that things did not end there.
“After a lot of arguing, I just decided to ignore everyone and keep doing it. I just kept making art and didn’t listen to the administration. I wasn’t able to put my work in any of the school art shows, I wasn’t able to even show my parents, but I was proud of what I was doing,” he said.
But that didn’t mean Jasper’s work went entirely unseen.
my schools administration told me to stop doing my concentration on gender and sexuality bc it was "inappropriate." but i didn't. and now… pic.twitter.com/qrEHb8lavm
— j ? (@enjoIras_) July 12, 2017
He submitted his final project to the College Board, and they selected it to be included in the 2017-2018 AP Studio Art Exhibit, a real honor in this competitive field.
It isn’t hard to see what the College Board saw in Jaspers powerful pieces.
Related: Someone broke down every Disney villain as a gay stereotype and it’s perfect
Check them out below, along with his descriptions:
Pansy
“Bullying is very common in the lives of LGBTQ+ youth. Insults such as ‘queer,’ ‘gay,’ ‘fairy,’ ‘fag,’ and ‘pansy’ are thrown at kids daily.
Having had personal experience of queer friends taking their lives or attempting to take their lives due to bullying has left marks on my life, I was inspired to create this piece.”
Growing Pains
“Throughout my transition, it often feels like I am mentally transitioned but the rest of my body has yet to catch up to my identity.
The sunflowers represent the mental growth and lack of physical growth of my identity.”
Caged
“I often feel trapped due to my assigned gender and biological genitals. It not only makes me feel like I am missing out on a lot of experiences, but also makes me feel isolated and confined within my biological sex.
This piece represents these feelings.”
Bittersweet
“This piece is a self-portrait that shows the raw and personal moment when a transgender person takes off their binder. It is a happy moment due to the relief of the pain, but it is also a moment filled with dysphoria and often grief.”
To Have and Hold
“Most of the pieces in my concentration highlight specific hardships of LGBTQ+ people. Being queer, especially being transgender, is often seen as ‘confusing’ or ‘complicated’ to those who are not LGBTQ+. This piece shows that being queer is, at its foundations, simple and pure. Love is what brings us together.”
You can find more of Jasper’s brilliant work on his Portfolio or on Instagram.
crowebobby
Looks brilliant to me in every respect.
Danny595
You need glasses.
Danny595
“This piece shows that being queer is, at its foundations, simple and pure. ”
The piece shows 2 spooning figures facing away from one another, with blank expressions on their faces. Every other pic above shows people alone, either with dismembered bodies or contemplating suicide. This doesn’t seem “simple and pure” unless she meant to say simply and purely sad.
greenmusic23f
He.
Ksb1978
He. Why are you blatantly misgendering him?
fredo777
What a sad person you must be.
geb1966
You, my dear, are a jackass for intentionally misgendering this young man. The description you quote in your first sentence is ONLY referring to the last piece…two people holding each other while they sleep, which is simple and pure. HE clearly states that the others represent the hardships faced by trans people. So go elsewhere with your willful obtuseness.
Danny595
If you click on the links in the article, you will see 1) she’s a girl, 2) she rarely smiles or appears happy, and 3) nearly every one of her drawings is about alienation, sadness and body dismemberment. This is disturbing and sad, no matter how hard Queerty and a few mindless pro-trans commenters try to put a happy face on it.
LGB people need to seriously consider the costs to LGB youth of being falsely associated with the phenomenon of transgenderism, which is wholly distinct from sexual orientation.
Goforit
Yea sure dannyboy, we get it. Only your discriminatory opinion is valid and everyone else is wrong. You and president dogsh*t seem to be cut from the same broadcloth.
greenmusic23f
He.
Ryan Field
It really is excellent work, and much too sophisticated for that poor vice principal.
dgsea06
Stunning artwork-especially for one so young. Keep it up, Jasper! You’ll out AndyWarhol Andy Warhol one of these days. Hang in there, We Need You!
am_psi
Technically the art is fine and she should be be able to make whatever she wants, but all these pictures are unpleasant.
geb1966
1) You are a jackass for intentionally misgendering this trans young man.
2) They are SUPPOSED to be unpleasant, as HE pointed out they are about the hardships faced by trans people, which ARE unpleasant. That does not make them “inappropriaate.”
Andrew Yang
They are unpleasant as they are meant to depict his hurt and pain as a transgender young man. The pictures show what he feels on the inside. I think they are beautiful, although I can understand that some would find them hard to look at. This is his reality and the reality of many transgender individuals. I see it in my line of work almost daily, and it is heartbreaking as they just want to be who they are as us gays want to be who we are.
KaiserVonScheiss
These are okay. Certainly better than the scam “art” of people like Rothko or Pollock. I generally think pretty much everything after impressionism is rubbish.
cacusukoca77
as Annie replied I didn’t even know that any one able to earn $8091 in four weeks on the
computer . why not check here…
girldownunder
Wow! Very powerful pieces, Jasper!
Don’t let the nay-sayers get to you– there are plenty of deliberately cruel people out there & what they project is pure vitriol disguised as “caring”. That’s the worst part- they don’t really care, at all, about the struggles that they don’t personally have to endure. Instead, they attempt to knock you down out of sheer nastiness & ignorance.
Guess what? They’re selfish, self-centred morons who do NOT deserve your time nor attention.
You’ve produced some wonderful art works here & I anticipate a very successful career ahead. Bravo!
phallictomato
Typical bloody schools telling you that you can only draw certain things. Glad that Jasper was able to pushed through the school’s ignorance. If I did the same though when I was doing art, I would have been ‘failed’ simply because I didn’t follow the criteria. We only had 6 options: landscape, portrait, still life (like fruit bowls and boring crap like that), and a few other forgettable options. I wanted to draw dragons but wasn’t allowed 🙁 school really does rob people of their imagination and creativity. In my opinion, schools are like prisons. I didn’t even know what my favourite colour or movie, or anything else was, until I finished school and was able to think for myself for once.
phallictomato
able to push through the schools’ ignorance*
phallictomato
Also, my favourite art piece is Pansy – because my asshole of a father said behind my back that I’m not as masculine as my brother. So I like that art piece the most because to me it represents my father wishing I was more masculine – which just isn’t going to happen.
Danny595
He was an asshole for saying that behind your back. He should have told you to your face and then taught you how to be a normal man.
Gaytaffuk
Danny595
I agree with you, phallictomato’s father should have directed his comments to phallictomato’s face, not his brothers, his actions sound like a cowards fear of confronting an issue.
The rest of your comment just exposes how limited your thinking is. What is the definition of a ‘normal man’? There is no such being, you are just subscribing to the heteronormative desire for a ‘man to be a man’ which is pure bullshit. You need to grow up and accept that every person is able to express themselves in their own terms, you are in no position to dictate anyone else’s self expression.
Think before you comment in future, otherwise you will expose yourself as being a pratt again!
Danny595
Gaytaffuk – Dum, dum, you don’t get to declare whatever it is you don’t like as “heteronormative.” It’s meaningless. It’s not an argument. The vast majority of men – straight, gay and bi – are repulsed by effeminate behavior in men. For that matter, women are too. When most of the human population, from Albania to Zimbabwe, retches at the sight of something, it’s a safe bet that that thing is not normal. Thus, phalictomato’s dad really failed him by not helping him to overcome his abnormality.
Gaytaffuk
Danny595
Dum Dum eh?
Definition of heteronormative. : of, relating to, or based on the attitude that heterosexuality is the only normal and natural expression of sexuality. (Definition from Merriam Webster)
Sorry, I do get to declare what is and isn’t heteronormative and what isn’t. I am entitled to an opinion as are, unfortunately, you. As Merriam Webster is a reasonably well known dictionary and they include a definition for ‘heteronormative’ it obviously has meaning and has validity as an argument. Please clarify where you get your statistics which show that the ‘vast majority’s of men and women are ‘repulsed by effeminate behaviour’ otherwise your argument is null.
Interesting that you use Albania and Zimbabwe – two countries which have extremely negative views on homosexuality let alone effeminate behaviour. If these are your benchmarks for rational thinking then god help you.
I agree with that Phallictomato’s father let him down, he let him down by not accepting that an effeminate child could be as worthy of his love and support as, by your definition, a ‘normal’ one. It feels from your tone that you are also a child badly let down by a parent not willing to accept your effeminate behaviour thus forcing you to ‘overcome’ your ‘abnormality’. Stinks of internalised homophobia to me!
Danny595
gayta – lol! How entertainingly stupid. “Look, my adjective has a definition! Therefore, I get to label whatever I don’t like with that adjective and it’s legit! Legit I tells ya!” Seriously, how do you function in daily life without an attendant?
You don’t get to call normal masculinity “heteronormative” and pretend that that’s an argument. That’s an assertion. And it’s false. Every society has standards for normal masculinity and men revile those who fail to meet those standards. If you don’t like Albania and Zimbabwe, you can substitute any other society. And more to the point, 40 years of social science show that the large majority of gay and bi men are not effeminate and indeed, gay and bi men show levels of revulsion at effeminacy equal to those of straight men. You wish that this revulsion were “heteronormative.” In reality, it is normative.
Of course, it isn’t my burden to show that normal masculinity is not “heteronormative.” It is your burden to show that it is. And you haven’t done that. Because you can’t do that. Because it isn’t so. Poor phallictomato had a lousy dad because that dad allowed him to wallow in his failure of manhood. A good dad would have intervened and tried to fix the deficit in his son.
Gaytaffuk
Danny565
My, you do seem to have your panties in a twist about my use of heteronormative!!! Calm down dear, you’ll do yourself a mischief!!!
We do, however, seem to have gone off topic.
The issue here is how a parent should treat their child. You assert that a father should teach a child to be a ‘normal man’.
Taking that this behaviour should be accepted, to what extent should a parent be allowed to bully their child? A quick slap every now and again? Broken bones? Missing teeth? Or murder? Should a parent be allowed to torture and murder a child in the name of teaching them to be a ‘normal man’?
You speak about a ‘burden’, what sort of burden is a life where a child is bullied every day to be something they are not? What is a life where a child has to hide their true self from people who are supposed to love and nurture them?
What about IS?, is it acceptable for gays to be thrown off buildings because they don’t fit into your definition of ‘normal man’?
Your assertion that a parent should be able to teach a child to be a ‘normal man’ is a VERY slippery slope. How quickly would that move from a parent having that right to a teacher or priest having that right, from there to anyone having the right to ‘educate’ people on how to behave? How would you recognise these people? Dress them up in nice black shirts? Give them a nice shiny badge? Send the dissidents to nice camps for re-education?
Just revisiting the original article again – this is about a transsexual person, do you think that bullying a person with a scientifically recognised gender dismorphia will be advantageous to their long term mental health, will help them to be their best self?
Your last line is very revealing of your internalised homophobia: ‘A good dad would have intervened and tried to fix the deficit in his son.’ You see non-conformative behaviour as a ‘deficit’? I am concerned at the level of self hate you display in this sentence. You sound very damaged and obviously need help!
Danny595
Gayta — Aaaand we come right back round to your problem. You started off by equating normal masculinity with heterosexuality and now you accuse me of “internalized homophobia” because I accurately described effeminacy as a deficit. But why would a critique of effeminacy be “internalized homophobia”? Indeed, it could not be “internalized homophobia” unless effeminacy were inherently linked with or a part of homosexuality. It isn’t. Decades of research in this area consistently shows that the solid majority of G/B males are not effeminate and the very large majority of them are as repulsed by effeminacy as are heterosexual men. But you are deeply committed to the notion that gay=effeminate. Whether this is because you are gay and hate yourself or whether it is because you are effeminate and feel less guilty about it by smearing all gay people with the same flaw, I don’t know. In either case, you need to educate yourself and perhaps consider counseling for your issues. Perhaps counseling can succeed where your father failed.
Also, fyi, it is possible for a father to teach his son certain things without knocking out teeth. Shocking but true.
Gaytaffuk
Danny595
Aaaand here we go again! You’re panties really are in a bunch aren’t they?
You’re internalised homophobia really is coming to the fore now!
Of course your assertion that ‘normal men’ don’t see effeminacy as acceptable is indicative of your internalised homophobia. The very fact that you can seriously use the term ‘normal man’ demonstrates this very clearly.
Where are all of these deep scientificallyrecognised studies which you keep refering to? Show us the research!
You state:
‘But you are deeply committed to the notion that gay=effeminate. Whether this is because you are gay and hate yourself or whether it is because you are effeminate and feel less guilty about it by smearing all gay people with the same flaw, I don’t know.’
I am not commited to the belief that gay=effeminate, I just don’t see effeminacy as being a flaw that needs to be taught/beaten out of a child. If I am or am not effeminate is in no way relevent to the discussion and I have at no point suggested that all gay men are effeminate or if they were that it would be an issue, that seems to be your bugbear. If I am effeminate it would be something I would be proud of and not seek to subvert to fit into your sad view of the world.
Yes, I have many issues, mostly because of sad bullies like you who feel that they are in a position to dictate to others how they should live their lives. I have had therapy and the one thing it has shown me is that I should not hide my true self because of narrow minded bigots. It’s sad to think that there are millions of people who have hidden their true selves and not achieved the greatness they could have because of the control exerted by the religious autocratic agenda. My father failed, and continues to fail, because he takes the same view you do. He tried to beat the gay away and, guess what? He FAILED, miserably. The only thing he succeeded in doing was driving a huge wedge between himself and the rest of his family. I agree that a father can teach a child without knocking out teeth, but, often, the protagonist in these situations has neither the patience or intelligence to mange without violence of one sort of another,my father didn’t!
That is the BIG problem with your view, it divides families, destroys lives and promotes a miserable, destructive agenda, affecting people for the rest of their, often, miserable, lives.
It’s easy to see that your views are on the wrong side of history, they belong in the 1950s and in years to come you will see that your brand of misogyny is neither fair, sensible or intelligent.
Danny595
You are committed to that stereotype. You link masculinity to hetero norms and declare that opposition to effeminacy is “internalized homophobia.” Those charges only make sense if you think that effeminacy is an inherent feature of homosexuality. If you don’t believe that, then masculinity is not a hetero-only norm and opposition to effeminacy is just opposition to effeminacy, not “homophobia.”
You try to hide your assumptions about the world behind jargon, but anyone taking 5 minutes to examine your language can see what your assumptions and premises are. It’s sad and pathetic. No wonder you were bullied. As a 22 yo gay guy, please hear me when I say that you need to stay far away from gay and bi youth. They don’t need your baggage.
Gaytaffuk
Danielle595
Here we go again!!
‘You are committed to that stereotype’ – please clarify this statement. What is this ‘stereotype’ I’m committed to? A stereotype is the exact opposite to what I am ‘committed to’ – my position is that everyone should be free to express themselves as they feel fit, I fail to see how that stereotypes anyone!
At no point have I stated that ‘opposition to effeminacy is “internalized homophobia’. I have suggested that your focus on effeminacy and the need to teach it out of children is suggestive of your internalised homophobia but I have not suggested that this is an issue that all men have. You imply that I suggested that this an issue all critics of effeminacy have, that is not the case, I am not talking generally here, I am only suggesting (or more clearly stating) that this is your issue from the comments you have made in this thread.
‘Those charges only make sense if you think that effeminacy is an inherent feature of homosexuality. If you don’t believe that, then masculinity is not a hetero-only norm and opposition to effeminacy is just opposition to effeminacy, not “homophobia.”’ – this all sounds very disjointed and vague, you seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions about me and my views with very little evidence. I have stated, very clearly, that I believe that everyone should be allowed to express themselves in the way that fits their personality, that does not, by any stretch of the imagination, suggest that I think that effeminacy is ‘an inherent feature of homosexuality’. You seem to struggle to accept that other people, myself included, can accept others for what they are, effeminate or otherwise, and not judge them as being any ‘less’ for it.
‘You try to hide your assumptions about the world behind jargon, but anyone taking 5 minutes to examine your language can see what your assumptions and premises are. It’s sad and pathetic.’ – Now you just sound bitter and nasty, attacking your opponent like this, trying to undermine their argument by calling names is a last resort and just looks as if you have run out of sensible, well thought out responses. Please try a bit harder to come up with some cogent points, this demeans you and your argument. It also says more about your assumptions than mine!
‘No wonder you were bullied.’ That is just nasty! Please don’t sink to that level.
‘As a 22 yo gay guy, please hear me when I say that you need to stay far away from gay and bi youth. They don’t need your baggage.’ – Again, nasty. Resorting to ageist comments is just low, especially when you don’t know how old I am! I would point out that you are the one with the nasty, restrictive views which could cause serious mental hurt to children, I hope you don’t voice these opinions in any environment where suggestive people could hear and be permanently affected by your bigotry. My baggage is exactly that, mine! I do not inflict it on those who may suffer harm from it. It sounds as if your baggage is much more insidious and therefore dangerous.
One final point, in your previous post you mentioned lots of studies which showed that effeminacy is reviled by the majority of gay and straight men. I asked you to indicate where these studies can be found. You have not done so. Where are they?
Kris
Beautiful!!!
He BGB
We have Freedom of Speech here so THERE. And enjoy it while you can with #45. He’s been taught by Roy Cohn and Hitler’s how to book remember.