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Alison Bechdel says her radical queer comics are now more widely accepted

Alison Bechdel says her radical queer comics are now more widely accepted
Alison Bechdel visits the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt., where she was appointed Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont, Thursday April 6, 2017. Bechdel also was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2014, which honors people who show "exceptional creativity" in their work and the likelihood of more. Photo: AP Photo/Wilson Ring

Vermont’s new cartoonist laureate has made a career out of illustrating the complexities of same-sex relationships and says the world has changed around her and is now much more accepting of her work.

Alison Bechdel’s memoir and graphic novel about growing up with a bisexual father was adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical. Bechdel was given the cartoonist laureate title Thursday at the Statehouse in Montpelier.

After meeting Republican Gov. Phil Scott she said that when she began cartooning about same-sex relationships decades ago it was “the most subcultural, fringe, beyond-the-pale thing you could ever think of doing.”

In 2014, she was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant, which honors people who show exceptional creativity.

She says as cartoonist laureate she’ll call attention to cartooning as an art form.

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