The Pansy Project: Raising awareness of homophobic abuse with guerrilla gardening

In addition to Beutiful, I co-write/admin for a website called I Acknowledge Beauty Exists. Between these two ventures, I am constantly being exposed to great projects and bits of news. A few days ago, a link to The Pansy Project was posted on the I Acknowledge Beauty Exists’ facebook page and I decided to check it out. As I was looking at the website, I became so moved by the project and the images that I made the photo you see above my personal cover photo and my laptop background. I knew I had to spread the word. The Pansy Project was started 8 years ago by artist Paul Harfleet to mark his encounters with homophobia in Manchester, United Kingdom. The artist, 39, plants pansies to memorialize the location of anti-gay abuse and then photographs the flower and places it on The Pansy Project website. Though the project grew out Paul’s own personal experiences, he now plants pansies for others. The carefully chosen flower – pansy (which means ‘Please think about me’) was chosen by Paul because of its references in gay culture. Plantings include markers for those who have been murdered during anti-gay incidents. He has now gardened in locations around the world including Turkey, Berlin, Austria and New York.

“What was originally an autobiographical work has become a project that has been embraced by the gay community, who seemed to see the project as way to deal with a shared experience as many members of the LGBT community have experienced bullying or abuse at some point.”

When The Huffington Post asked Paul how the project started, he explained:

It began, eight years ago, in Manchester. I was studying for an MA in fine art and had experienced three separate incidences of homophobic abuse in one day. This sparked my interest in the memory of location which led me to consider how my memory of the location changed, based on my experiences of homophobia. I was interested in how road-side memorials changed the way one experiences the street. The memorials encourage you to remember something you know nothing about. I’m interested in this experience and how I was able to contribute through my work to this dialogue. I selected the pansy because it references gay culture and has obvious connotations with homophobia, by placing it at the location and naming it after the abuse I was subtly altering the location changing it from one of attack to resistance.

For Edgar Garzon – Jackson Heights, New York

I hope that The Pansy Project makes a difference in terms of creating an opportunity for discussion. I love the fact that people can see what appears to be an image of a simple pansy become something with a more sinister meaning though ultimately the planting is one of healing and closure. I hope that people who hear about the project who then go on to experience homophobia may remember the project. In this case, the project becomes a mental strategy for experiencing homophobia on the streets. Rather than internalizing the attack the experience can be processed in a different way. Now when I experience homophobia on the streets, I straight away think about where I’m going to plant the pansy. I may not. But the mental process is there as a defense mechanism.

“We’re going to kill you! faggot!” Euston Station, London

The most inspiring and moving moment of the whole project was when I planted a pansy for Michael Causer in Liverpool. He was beaten and tortured and later died as a result of his injuries. I planted the pansy with his parents who were really supportive of the project, it was really quiet, moving and has stayed with me as an truly humbling experience. They were so elegantly calm yet devastated at losing there nineteen-year-old son so senselessly.

The following piece was written by Paul Harfleet for Glow-Lab in 2006:

“Die Queer! Die Queer! Die Queer! Die Queer!” For Ben Whitehouse – Birmingham, England

A string of homophobic abuse on a warm summer’s day was the catalyst for this project. The day began with two builders shouting; “it’s about time we went gay-bashing again isn’t it?”; continued with a gang of yobs throwing abuse and stones at my then boyfriend and me, and ended with a bizarre and unsettling confrontation with a man who called us ‘ladies’ under his breath.

Over the years I have become accustomed to this kind of behaviour, but I came to realise it was a shocking concept to most of my friends and colleagues. It was in this context that I began to ponder the nature of these verbal attacks and their influence on my life. I realised that I felt differently about these experiences depending on my mental state so I decided to explore the way I was made to feel at the location where these incidents occur.

What interested me was the way that the locations later acted as a prompt for me to explore the memories associated with that place. I wanted in some way to manipulate these associations, In order to feel differently about the location and the memories it summoned. I became interested in the public nature of these incidents and the way one was forced into reacting publicly to a crime that often occurred during the day and in full view of passers by.

I had observed the tendency to place flowers at the scene of a crime or accident had become an accepted ritual and I considered a similar response. Floral tributes subtly augment the reading of a space that encourages a passer-by to ponder past events at a marked location, generally understood as a crime or accident; my particular intervention could encourage a passer-by to query the reason for my own ritualistic action.

“Punched” For James Parkes – Stanley Street, Liverpool, England

However, I did not feel it would be appropriate to equate my personal experience of verbal homophobic abuse with a death or fatal accident; I felt that planting a small unmarked living plant at the site would correspond with the nature of the abuse: A plant continues to grow as I do through my experience. Placing a live plant felt like a positive action, it was a comment on the abuse; a potential ‘remedy’.

The species of plant was of course vitally important and the pansy instantly seemed perfect. Not only does the word refer to an effeminate or gay man: The name of the flower originates from the French verb; pensar (to think), as the bowing head of the flower was seen to visually echo a person in deep thought. The subtlety and elegiac quality of the flower was ideal for my requirements. The action of planting reinforced these qualities, as kneeling in the street and digging in the often neglected hedgerows felt like a sorrowful act. The bowing heads of the flowers became mournful symbols of indignant acceptance.

“I believe homosexuality is a biological disorder, a disease. It needs to be treated” –
State Minister Selma Aliye Kavaf, Istanbul, Turkey

So my eventual strategy would be to plant unmarked pansies as close as possible to where I received verbal homophobic abuse. I would then entitle the location after the abuse and post a photograph of the pansy alongside the quoted abuse online. What was originally an autobiographical work has become a project that has been embraced by the gay community, who seemed to see the project as way to deal with a shared experience as many members of the LGBT community have experienced bullying or abuse at some point.

Events where I have handed out pansies for people to memorialise their own locations have been well attended as have sessions I have hosted which have been designed to introduce the project to a wider audience. My research has revealed that the process of planting a pansy at the scene of these incidents alters the participant’s experience of the city. The memorialised locations primarily become a place where the participant has planted a pansy, not where an attack has occurred.

For Dwan Prince, Brooklyn, New York

This action adjusts the memory of each location which has the effect of overlaying the remembered event in the mind of the participants with a more positive association. The website enables the images of the ephemeral acts to be collated and presented to a wide audience who can then vicariously explore the nature of the incidents. The juxtaposition of the images of the delicate flowers placed in derelict urban settings with frequently offensive and hurtful abuse creates a complex anthology of homophobic verbal abuse as experienced by gay people in towns and cities today.

The humble planted pansy becomes a record; a trace of this public occurrence which is deeply personal and concurrently available to the public on the city streets and on-line. When verbal homophobic abuse is experienced the assailant forces the unwilling participant to assimilate and respond to this public verbal attack; ignore or retaliate. The Pansy Project acts as a formula which prevents the ‘victim’ from internalising the incident, the strategy becomes a conceptual shield; a behaviour that enables the experience to be processed via the public domain in this case the location where the incident occurred and latterly the website which collates and presents the incidents and operates as a virtual location of quiet resistance.

Projects like “The Pansy Project” have vital influence because they have the power to change perception. More of these campaigns are needed in order to make the world a better place, where the rights of the minorities are protected and homosexual marriage legalized.

You can follow The Pansy Project on facebook and twitter. If you would like to contact Paul about an instance of homophobic abuse and a planting location, email him at: pjharfleet@hotmail.com!

You can see Paul in action in this video by Guerrilla Gardener TV!

About The Author

Patricia Colli, Editor of Beutiful Magazine, is a human rights activist, equality advocate, and promoter of health, acceptance and wellbeing. Having experienced disordered eating, unhealthy exercise patterns and poor body image, she is especially passionate about shedding light on eating disorders and the power of body acceptance.