Love is Love

PRAISE FOR Love Around the World:“This is a really uplifting book … it’s a children’s book but it is also a work of activism… . One of the striking things about this book is the illustrations by artist Fatinha Ramos. [Fleur and Fatinha] depict the cultures of these different places so vividly, in writing and in pictures.” —Marco Werman, PRI’s The World”A real-life LGBTQ love story inspired this picture book. When Fleur and Julian fall in love and decide to get married, they discover that because they are both women, this is possible in only 28 of the world’s 195 countries. They decide to travel around the world to celebrate their nuptials in each of these nations, starting with Julian’s native Netherlands. Each subsequent spread depicts the women in different countries that sanction and affirm their union: the U.S., Brazil, Australia, France, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Canada, Spain, Iceland, Finland, and Mexico. Each spread shows Fleur and Julian joyfully celebrating in festive settings, often with other couples around them. The art has a graphic, flat quality that makes the most of the rainbow palette in scenes that could translate to postcard or poster images, and the text highlighting fairness, safety, and pride helps make the adult institution of marriage accessible to young readers….Moving and inspiring. “ —Kirkus ReviewsPRAISE FOR 22 The Project:“Stunning … a compelling performance piece that will take [Pierets and Boom] around the world on behalf of LGBTQ rights.” – Huffington Post”It’s not quite a honeymoon, but it’s still got all the love and excitement of one! … [a] journey that will not only positively impact their own marriage, but hopefully those of couples around the world as well.” – The Knot

Fleur Pierets is an artist, writer, and speaker who focuses on gay identity and positive activism. She is the author of the 2019 book Julian, which was a best-seller in the Netherlands and in her native Belgium, and Love Around the World, the first of a two-volume children’s book series on marriage equality around the world. Together with her late wife, Julian P. Boom, she founded Et Alors? magazine. It features conversations with queer musicians, visual artists, writers and performers by whom they are inspired, capturing a world striving for change and awareness of gay imagery and female representation in art history. In 2017, Fleur and Julian started 22–The Project, a performance art piece in which the couple would marry in every country that legalized same-sex marriage. There were 22 countries when they launched the project in 2017; since then, the number of countries has grown to 27. After wedding #4, in France, Julian was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died shortly thereafter. With this book series, Fleur is seeing their project through to the end. Fleur Pierets lives in Antwerp, Belgium.