Prism Comics is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that promotes awareness of

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

(

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

) creators, stories,

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

, and readers in the

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

industry. It does this through informational booths and programming at

comic convention A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at conv ...

s, print and online guides to LGBT creators and comics, and the annual Queer Press Grant to assist publication of new LGBT-themed work. Prism Comics incorporated in April 2003 in the state of Georgia, and received its 501(c)(3) charitable status shortly thereafter. The organization was initially composed of a small number of comics fans and professionals from across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

who had volunteered on an annual publication called ''Out in Comics'', which was a listing of LGBT creators in comics that ran for three issues. Following incorporation, it expanded activities, publishing feature articles, interviews, original, art and content; expanding convention appearances and programming; and (until late 2014) a web forum.

Points of interest

* Maintains a comprehensive website
PrismComics.org
that posts LGBT-related comics news, reviews, and profiles of nearly 300 LGBT comics professionals. * Produces weekly articles featured on the Prism website. * Works with comics convention organizers to include LGBT content in their programming schedules, helping them to procure panelists, and promoting the panels in fan venues and in the LGBT and comics media. * Purchases booth space at major comics conventions each year as an outreach effort to the industry to promote the work of LGBT creators in comics who are not having their work promoted sufficiently elsewhere.

Queer Press Grant

Prism awards one-time financial grants to comics creators who are self-publishing a work of interest to an LGBT audience. In 2005 and 2006, the value of the grant was $1000, in 2007 it was raised to $1500, and later to $2000. The grant is announced annually at Wondercon comic convention in Anaheim, California. In 2020, the Prism Awards was held virtually as a two-day livestream. Recipients are: * 2005: Steve MacIsaac for ''Shirtlifter'' * 2006: Megan Rose Gedris for ''YU+ME:dream'' * 2007:

Justin Hall Justin Hall (born December 16, 1974, in Chicago, Illinois) is an Americans, American journalist and entrepreneur, best known as a pioneer blogger. Biography Born in Chicago, Hall graduated Francis W. Parker School (Chicago), Francis W. Parker ...

for ''A Sacred Text, True Travel Tales, Hard to Swallow'' * 2007: Tommy Roddy for ''Pride High'' * 2008: Pam Harrison for ''House of Muses'' * 2009: Ed Luce for '' Wuvable Oaf'' * 2009: Eric Orner for ''Storybox'' * 2010:

Jon Macy Jon Macy is a gay American cartoonist. He is best known for his graphic novel ''DJUNA: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes'', a biography of the beautiful and irascible Modernist author. His graphic novel ''Teleny and Camille'' won a 2010 Lamb ...

for ''Fearful Hunter'' * 2010:

Tana Ford Tana may refer to: Places Africa * Lake Tana, a lake in Ethiopia (and a source of the Nile River) * Tana Qirqos, an island in the eastern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, near the mouth of the Gumara River * Tana River County, a county of Coast P ...

for ''Duck'' * 2011: Robert Kirby for ''THREE'' * 2012: Christine Smith for ''The Princess'' * 2012:

Blue Delliquanti ''O Human Star'' is a science fiction family drama webcomic by Blue Delliquanti. The title is a reference to a passage in '' R.U.R.'', the origin for the word "robot". Synopsis ''O Human Star'' follows Alastair "Al" Sterling, the person who ...

for ''O Human Star'' * 2013:

Hazel Newlevant Hazel Newlevant is an American cartoonist and editor known for creating and editing comics about LGBT history, queer history, bisexuality, polyamory, and reproductive rights. Raised in Portland, Oregon, Newlevant lives in Queens, Queens, New Yor ...

for ''If This Be Sin'' * 2014:

Calvin Gimpelevich Calvin may refer to: Names * Calvin (given name) ** Particularly Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States * Calvin (surname) ** Particularly John Calvin, theologian Places In the United States * Calvin, Arkansas, a hamlet * Calvin T ...

for ''Wolfmen'' * 2015:

Dave Davenport David W. Davenport (February 20, 1890 – October 16, 1954), was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1914 to 1919. Davenport went on to play for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Terriers, and the St. Louis ...

for ''Stray Bullet'' * 2016:

Elizabeth Beier Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ( ...

for ''Bisexual Trials and Errors'' * 2016:

Catherine Esguerra Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian sa ...

for ''Eighty Days'' * 2017:

Tee Franklin Tee Franklin is a comic book writer who has worked for Image, Marvel and DC Comics. Her work includes ''Bingo Love'' (published by Image Comics), ''Harley'' ''Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour'' and ''Harley Quinn: The Animate ...

* 2018: Eric Kostiuk Williams

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.prismcomics.org/ Organizations established in 2003 LGBTQ-related mass media in the United States 501(c)(3) organizations 2003 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Internet properties established in 2003