The “Life Without Fair Courts ” cartoon contest was launched this spring together with Prism Comics and Diamond Comic Distributors, along with The Advocate as exclusive media sponsor. There were over 25 entries from all over the country, including two international entries from Poland. The finalists were chosen by a panel of judges including artist Mikhaela Reid who was commissioned by Lambda Legal to draw the “Life Without Fair Courts” cartoon series, DC Comics Editor Joan Hilty, freelance illustrator and comic book artist Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, Infinite Crisis), and Sean Kennedy, News Editor at The Advocate. Nearly 2,000 people voted to select the winners.
“The goal of our Courting Justice project, which designed and carried out the ‘Life Without Fair Courts’ cartoon contest, is to help the community better understand what our lives and the lives of all Americans would be like without a fair and impartial judicial system,” said Hector Vargas, Deputy Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. “The artists turned complex ideas into compelling graphic art in ways that make it easy to understand the impact of the court system on our everyday lives.”
Lambda Legal has announced the top three winners in the “Life Without Fair Courts” cartoon contest.
First Place: Greg Fox, “4 Reasons for Gays to Be Grateful”
Second Place: Ted Rall, “Explaining the Supreme Court”
Third Place: Matt Bors, “Future Courtroom Landmarks”
The First Place Winner, Greg Fox, best known for his current comic strip Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast, said he never intended on becoming a political cartoonist, but “Being a cartoonist, working at home I hear a lot of talk radio. You might say my entry in this contest was a response to all of that antigay rhetoric I’ve been subjected to on the airwaves.” The Second Place Winner, Ted Rall, named “the most controversial cartoonist in America” by Cartoon.com, was inspired to create his comic strip because, “instances of judicial unfairness and bias have made such a negative impact on our society that they demand outrage and ridicule.” The Third Place Winner Matt Bors said not having fair courts “could spell doom for much of the progress we’ve made in the last 50 years.”
First prize in the contest is exposure in the current issue of The Advocate and on Advocate.com. Second and third prizes include donated shopping sprees from Diamond Comic Distributors. To see the winning entries, please go to www.lambdalegal.org/courtingjustice.
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. For more information, please go to www.lambdalegal.org.
