Prism Comics is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, 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 the 29 types of 50 ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that promotes awareness of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. 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 n ...

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 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

(

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) 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 The ...

, and readers in the

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

industry. It does this through informational booths and programming at

comic convention A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on 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 co ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 Steve MacIsaac is a Canadian comics artist and creator living in Long Beach, California. He is known for his comics series ''Shirtlifter'' (2006-2019) and the graphic novel, ''Unpacking'' (2018). His comics focus on the lives and relationships of ...

for ''Shirtlifter'' * 2006: Megan Rose Gedris for ''YU+ME:dream'' * 2007:

Justin Hall Justin Hall (born December 16, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American journalist and entrepreneur, best known as a pioneer blogger. Biography Born in Chicago, Hall graduated Francis W. Parker High School in 1993. In 1994, while a student ...

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 Ed Luce is an American cartoonist, best known for his indie comics series '' Wuvable Oaf''. The series focuses on Oaf Jadwiga, a bearish gay ex-wrestler looking for love. Originally funded by a grant from Prism Comics, it was self-published in f ...

for '' Wuvable Oaf'' * 2009:

Eric Orner Eric Orner (born c. 1965, Chicago) is an openly gay American cartoonist and animator, whose works often revolve around LGBT issues. He is best known for long-running syndicated comic strip '' The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green'' ...

for ''Storybox'' * 2010:

Jon Macy Jon Macy is a gay American cartoonist. He began his career in 1990 with the series ''Tropo'' published September 1990 – April 1992 by Blackbird Comics. Since then, he has contributed to various LGBT comics anthologies and gay pornographic maga ...

for ''Fearful Hunter'' * 2010: Tana Ford for ''Duck'' * 2011:

Robert Kirby Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He was best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, ''Five Leaves Left'' and '' Bryter Layter'', but also worked ...

for ''THREE'' * 2012: Christine Smith for ''The Princess'' * 2012: Blue Delliquanti for ''O Human Star'' * 2013: Hazel Newlevant for ''If This Be Sin'' * 2014: Calvin Gimpelevich for ''Wolfmen'' * 2015: Dave Davenport for ''Stray Bullet'' * 2016: Elizabeth Beier for ''Bisexual Trials and Errors'' * 2016: Catherine Esguerra for ''Eighty Days'' * 2017: Tee Franklin * 2018: Eric Kostiuk Williams

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.prismcomics.org/ Companies established in 2003 LGBT-related mass media in the United States 501(c)(3) organizations