The Murphy Peetz of Southern Street
Published 12/12/16
"If you just read about us—two middle aged, college educated parents working blue collar jobs, living in a gritty blue collar neighborhood, four dogs, two cats, two very unusual kids, both special ed students, one who is out LGBT, all living in under 1000 square feet—one might imagine a very different picture from what we really look like and how we really are."
I connected to Shawna Murphy through a mutual friend that spotted an Instagram photo I took of her with her daughters at a Martin Luther King Day rally. She was leading the older girl, holding a protest sign, by the hand while the younger child rode on her back. The visual stuck with me. In September I began photographing Shawna (a child-care provider), her husband Christian Peetz (a painter), and daughters Beezus and Minnow Murphy in Seattle's South Park neighborhood. From the start of the school year, and past the 2016 presidential election, I documented Shawna and Christian's progressive parenting style, and how the family showed up for their community in divisive times.
Shawna, six-year old Minnow, and twelve-year old Beezus volunteer to clean schoolrooms at Louisa Boren STEM K-8 on September 6th, the day before the start of the school year. Both girls face learning challenges which require extra one-on-one time with teachers. They are "funny, smart and loving kids who happen to need a lot of support to be successful in a group environment," said Shawna. (1/29)
"I want to ask you something, but I don't want to offend you," said Beezus. "Are you gay?" She asked the question as a lead-in to tell me that she was a lesbian. She came out to her family at age 9, and to her schoolmates last year, at age 11. (2/29)
Shawna window washes in the shop classroom. Her "Fund McCleary Now" t-shirt (which she produced with fellow advocate Carolyn Leith and artist Derek Erdman) is in support of a near decade long fight on education in Washington State. The state supreme court mandated in 2012 that lawmakers fulfill their "paramount duty" to adequately fund public education. The state has yet to release a plan to comply with the ruling. (3/29)
Beezus huddles with Christian at the Stomp the Patriarchy Ball, an event for pro-choice organization, Shout Your Abortion. Later, In a personal statement she said symbolized how "we all need to go on our own path," she released the balloons to float towards the Washington Hall ceiling. (4/29)
Early in the evening, Minnow has the dance floor to herself. (5/29)
Christian, Shawna, and Beezus enjoy Seattle punk band Tacocat at the end of the night. (6/29)
Shawna asks Beezus to stay close to her before a march of Hillary Clinton supporters in South Park's Fiestas Patrias parade on September 17th. Shawna was one of the Clinton march organizers. (7/29)
Shawna and Beezus guide the group down the 14th Ave South parade route. The Clinton cardboard cutout was wrapped in plastic for rain protection. (8/29)
Shouting "Madame President! Madame President!" Beezus takes lead of the march. "Twelve is that age where you are part grown up and part child," said Shawna. (9/29)
Following the parade march, Christian pulls the family past a Fiestas Patrias lowrider show. (10/29)
Christian and Beezus stop to admire a 1981 Buick Regal lowrider. (11/29)
Christian, Shawna, and Beezus watch the September 26th presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Beezus' iPad. (12/29)
Shawna enjoys time with friends at the MWDL (Mothers Who Drink Lunch) at Loretta's Northwesterner on September 9th. Following the first debate, "We were sort of bragging about Pussy Power and breaking the glass ceiling," she said. (13/29)
Shawna preps Minnow for the morning bus ride. Her school took part in a district-wide day of recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement on October 19th, with some teachers and students wearing t-shirts in a show of unity. (14/29)
Beezus in a display of school-day dread. (15/29)
Dressed as Mother Earth, Shawna hosts a Halloween party for the children and parents of Southern Street Kids. Running the business from her home, she prefers the term "child care" over "day care." "We have a joke in the biz," she said. "I take care of children, not days." (16/29)
Three days before the election, Shawna and Christian enjoy a date night at the Mad Hatter Dinner Gala, a fundraiser for Seattle PrideFest. (17/29)
PrideFest Deputy Festival Director LA Kendall LaBree recognizes Beezus and "World's Youngest Drag Superstar" RainBowGore Cake as part of the up and coming LBGTQ generation. (18/29)
Christian and Shawna make the most of a rare adults night out. Asked if Christian is the strong, silent type, Shawna said, "It's funny because he is the opposite. He is so chatty and social and much more gregarious than myself but for some reason this is how it looks [in photos]. I'm OK with it though." (19/29)
Election Night. Minnow watches children's shows on an iPad while Christian tracks the results at a viewing party in West Seattle. "She's going to lose," Christian said to the adults in the room, before heading out to the patio for a cigarette. (20/29)
"Sometimes things turn out differently than we had planned. Unexpected. We carry on. We live without FEAR. Love, Mommy." Shawna shares an Instagram post of lunch notes she wrote for the girls on November 9th. The note to Beezus reads, "It is in the darkest of times that we get to see what people are made of. YOU ARE MADE OF SHINING STARS. Let your LIGHT shine for all to see." (21/29)
Shawna waits as Ryan Wiebusch of ArtCore Tattoo Studios in Georgetown nears completion of a safety pin tattoo on her wrist. "I like symbols because they remind me to stay on my path," she said. Shawna organized a group of sixteen women and men to get the tattoos on November 20th, as symbols of solidarity with vulnerable communities. A percentage of the proceeds went to Seattle Counseling Service. (22/29)
Recalling questions from Minnow, Shawna said, "One of my favorites is, 'Do you remember the time it was just the two of us?' referring to when she was a little egg living inside of me for the first 40 years." (23/29)
"I'm worried for everybody," said Beezus. "Ever since Trump became our president [elect], I haven't felt safe. Now I feel scared all the time. I'm hoping that he's not as bad as he makes himself out to be, and maybe he just doesn't like Rosie O'Donnell...She's not his idea of pretty." (24/29)
"Mike Pence thinks that I should have my gay electrocuted out of me." (25/29)
Minnow on November 27th, our last day. "Do you like my dress? Do you like the hands on my dress? Are you confused? You should be." (26/29)
"This is signature Judd Nelson," said Beezus. "You guys are old so I thought you would know that." (27/29)
"I'm not big on smoking but I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for smoking," Beezus relays a story that Shawna told her. "So my parents had met a couple of times before at the gay club where my mom did coat check on Saturday nights. They liked each other but my dad never asked my mom out, which kind of pissed her off. So one night after my mom's shift at ARO she didn't have a lighter, she saw my dad and asked for a light, and the rest is history. Or herstory, as my mom always says." (28/29)
"I hereby solemnly swear to raise the most subversive children as humanly possible," Shawna declares. "The oldest already has a magnificent understanding of every possible way to use the F-word and is GenderFierce. The youngest could eat you for breakfast. Don't worry. We've ALL got this." (29/29)