The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division are proud to host photographer/author B. Proud and Edie Windsor for the NYC book launch First Comes Love: Portraits of Enduring LGBTQ Relationships. Proud will discuss the project, present images from the book, and engage in a question and answer period along with Edie Windsor, who wrote the forward to First Comes Love. Several of the couples featured in the book will also attend.

First Comes Love is available at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division (room 210 in The Center), and the Bureau will sell copies of the book at the event. Both B. Proud and Edie Windsor will sign copies of the book at the reception following the event.

Beer, wine, Absolut vodka cocktails, and sparkling water will be available for cash donations.

B. Proud. It’s not a slogan. It’s the name that’s on her birth certificate and Barbara Proud says that it’s a name she has to live up to. As both a commercial and fine art photographer, B. Proud has exhibited her award-winning work in solo and group shows around the globe. Her “First Comes Love” Project, a traveling exhibition of photographs, stories, and video, and now a hardbound book, has received multiple awards and grants including those from the B. W. Bastian Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, the Delaware State Arts Council, and The University of the Arts, Philadelphia where Barbara is an adjunct associate professor. B. Proud currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware with her spouse, Allison, and their yellow lab, Soleil.

Edith S. Windsor challenged the U.S. government and the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal recognition of legal same-sex marriages. She took her case all the way to the Supreme Court. Edie, insisting that the government uphold the Constitution and its demand for equality, won a landmark victory for the LGBTQ community in her case United States v. Windsor. Edie and Dr. Thea Spyer were together for nearly 44 years, but after Thea died, the government refused to recognize their legal marriage and charged Windsor with a hefty estate tax. Edie, who lives in New York City, was a top three finalist for TIME MAGAZINE 2013 PERSON of the YEAR.