It was 2009 when Philadelphia-based photographer B. Proud started taking portraits of long-term LGBTQ couples for her series First Comes Love. Though new hope for change and equality had been sparked with President Barack Obama s election, LGBTQ people still lacked many rights in the United States and around the world. Proud, whose first name is Barbara but who goes by B. (and who says she knows how lucky she got in the name department), wanted to increase visibility surrounding everyday queer lives to further understanding and acceptance.

And then 2016 happened.

I watched Sarah McBride, the first trans person to speak at the Democratic National Convention , and thought, This is going to be an amazing four maybe eight years, she told HuffPost during a phone call earlier this week. But thats not how things went. It became clear that our rights were in deep jeopardy, especially for transgender and gender non-conforming people. I decided if I was going to do more of this work, thats the community I needed to focus on.

Starting in 2017, Proud pivoted. Having mainly seen other photo projects aimed at elevating trans individuals, Proud decided to feature trans couples and families for a project called Transcending Love . Over the last three years, she has photographed and interviewed 60 different couples and families across 24 states.