Love Is Not That Straight. We Need More Queer Love Representation Amid St. Valentine’s Day

February, World - To put a spotlight on queer love ahead of St. Valentine’s Day, Taimi, the fully inclusive LGBTQ+ dating app, and Ukrainian artist and proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Daniel Skripnik, put a spin on the famous “Love is..”  comic strip created by New Zealand cartoonist Kim Casali to show how the idea of love might look to gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary, polyamorous and asexual people. The goal of the collaboration is to make St. Valentine’s Day a more inclusive holiday and to celebrate love in all its forms.

What is love? As St.Valentine’s Day approaches, we are all bombarded with heart-shaped everything, stores turning red, and people buying roses like there is no tomorrow. But does St. Valentine’s Day portray what love truly is? Many believe it does not, because it only showcases a very heteronormative and commercialized version of one of the most unique and magical things there is. That’s why Taimi and Daniel Skripnik decided to flip the script.

The public career of Daniel Skripnik began in 2016, and since then his story has been developing dynamically: from collaboration with Imagine Dragons and Billie Eilish, special visuals for The Weekend, and publication of works on Britney Spears social networks to collaborations with Adobe Inc. and cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. In March 2022, his sunflower painting became the symbol of the Save Ukraine national marathon, and a month later the illustration became one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance in the world. Daniel is also very open about being part of the LGBTQ+ community and says that one of his goals and missions as an artist is to give those who still hesitate or have difficulties with self-identification to believe in themselves and to understand that they are enough.

“We wanted to show that there is more to love than what we normally see on February 14th, and Daniel Skripnik was a perfect artist to convey this message because he is a very prominent queer artist that invites people to celebrate their identities. So we really clicked and had a great time working together putting our heart and soul into this art project ” - says Taimi’s Brand Manager Yana Andyol.

In our “Love is not that straight” strips, we tried to show that there is more to love than flowers and candies, and a boy holding his girl's hand. Daniel Skripnik illustrated what love is from insights we got from our gay, lesbian, asexual, non-binary, polyamorous, and transgender users and also added a little bit of magic.

“St. Valentine’s Day feels way too restricted.. To me, a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, this issue speaks volumes. I’ve never felt any positive emotions on this day because when you walk outside, all you see is a celebration of heterosexual love. And because I am an artist, I communicate through visual images. For me, seeing only “girl+boy” can feel depressing - like I don’t belong.” - says Daniel.

“Collaborating with Taimi on this was great because we have the same values, and the same point of view, and when I work in collaboration with people who share the same goals it provides me with the energy and resources I wouldn’t have if I worked alone. I really hope that this campaign will not only make queer people feel seen but also inspire them to take action, and go out and look for their future partner, on dating apps for instance. And hopefully, this will transform this somewhat dreadful day into something positive.” - adds Daniel.

We believe that love deserves to be celebrated in all its shapes and forms. Love is love, and we would like to invite you to celebrate it with us by seeing it from a different point of view.     

About TAIMI

Taimi is one of the largest, fully inclusive LGBTQ+ dating app. It is carefully designed so that you can explore your sexuality and passion. We and our users believe that people find their attractions and mutuals in a sexually fluid environment with full freedom of choice.

Download Taimi for free and start your queer journey today.

SOCIAL: @taimiapp