Our celebration of Pride Month continues here on Cheddar News, with a special segment on New York-based photographer Thomas Evans and his efforts to promote unity & equity. 

<div class="block">Our celebration of Pride Month continues here on Cheddar News, with a special segment on New York-based photographer Thomas Evans and his efforts to promote unity &amp; equity. </div>
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Wake Up With Cheddar

Photographer Thomas Evans Focuses Lens on Unity & Equality 

Meanwhile, on our celebration of Pride Month here on Cheddar News, a New York based photographer that's focusing his lens on promoting unity and equity. During Pride Month, Frank Recchia has the story for us. You know, I grew up as a child in the eighties and the nineties back then, there was no representation for the LGBT Q community. 48 year old Thomas Evans says his journey to self acceptance has been a long series of very careful steps steps he began taking when he first came out at the age of 26 just as he entered recovery from addiction brought about, he says by the fear and shame he felt about his true identity. I had to recover from that and then start peeling the layers away to find out who I was because being part of the LGBT Q community back then was very dangerous. Evans, a professional photographer is creative director at Health Care Advocates International in Stratford, a nonprofit clinic, fighting stigma and discrimination in the LGBT Q community and worldwide a place where Evans says he would go on to build a happy new life. I started to express myself authentically and fearlessly. And that led me to Doctor Gary Blick, bringing Thomas into health care. A international was what we're all about. Blick. The nonprofit's founder and chief medical Officer says, by chronicling through pictures taken locally and as far Zimbabwe where the group set up an HIV clinic. Evans has captured the concepts of bringing people together and promoting equality, especially through campaigns. The organization started HIV equal and stigma warriors and that's what we look for in Pride Month is those kind of connections. So people feel like they belong to a community. Evans says the photos are meant to capture not just members of the LGBT Q community but the full spectrum of humanity. A very straight laced guy in a suit and tie and a not so straight laced young person. Evans who's been married for five years has an 18 month old daughter Charlie. He says outside the office, he has a robust career creating through his pictures, safe spaces for people to express themselves while creating powerful images that break society's prescribed labels of masculinity and femininity society has, has always put out a message that femininity is weak and vulnerable and I'm sort of reclaiming that and transforming that message and creating more power around that. What do you say to all the well meaning people who are watching this story who consider themselves progressive and kind hearted and enlightened, yet still feel uncomfortable by seeing men in makeup and dresses being uncomfortable is OK, you just don't act out on those feelings because it all stems from fear. So if we can all just step out and treat everybody with kindness, respect and love, the world would be a different place. And our thanks to Frank for that report.