I was afraid to write this article. In fact, I spent several hours staring at my ceiling wondering if I should. If it was safe, given what was about to happen in our political climate. Then, I watched Brokeback Mountain and decided it was too important not to write. So here I am.Â
I’ve gone back and forth on how to start this article. Mostly because queer joy is a movement and topic very near and dear to my heart. It’s the reason I’ve found peace as I explore and come to understand my own identity while supporting others. I want to portray it right. I want to do it justice. So here it goes.
What is queer joy?
Queer joy, in a nutshell, occurs when you seek out and embrace joy, self-acceptance, community and empowerment in regards to your own queer identity. It’s a celebration of the queer you! It also functions as an act of resistance. In a world that seeks to continuously impede, threaten, and destroy queer life and queer identity, queer joy can be the biggest middle finger. It insists the LGBTQIA+ community has a right to joy, celebration, and happy endings. It reminds us that being queer does not mean you are condemned to a life of misery and struggle but that you can and will experience incredible beauty brought on by your queer identity. Media, peers, and society at large likes to push the narrative that to be gay is to be condemned to pain. Queer joy reminds us that is not our destiny.Â
How do we experience queer joy?Â
Queer joy is everywhere and can be created wherever you go. It also looks different for everyone. Sometimes it means diving into books, poems, and media created by queer artists and revelling in their success. Other times, it’s sitting in a cafe surrounded by folks who understand, love, and celebrate your identity. For me, it’s a small gathering with other queer folks where we do crafts, listen to music, and celebrate our pride. And yes, it can also be dressing up in your favorite get up and marching in the streets during Pride Month surrounded by your community. Queer joy is both internal and external, expressed however it feels best to you.Â
As long as what you do comes from a place of love, empowerment, kindness, there is no wrong way to foster queer joy.Â
Why do we need queer joy?Â
It’s an understatement to say that today’s political climate, especially in the U.S., is a bit…dicey for queer individuals. We are constantly bombarded with hate speech, threats, horrifying headlines, and fear for our safety. Our rights, our existence, our love is constantly under interrogation and at the end of the day, one can feel quite alone and defeated.
Queer joy, in these moments of despair, does two things. One, it reminds us of who we are and why we fought the odds to claim our identity. It gives us life when the world insists on sapping it away. It strengthens our bonds to our community so that when things get dark, we have something to hold onto. It reminds us that we are not new and this struggle is not new. We have faced odds like these before and we have prevailed. We will do it again.Â
And two, it is a demonstration of our resistance. Our strength. When we are told to be quiet, to diminish ourselves. To crawl back into the closets we clawed our way out of. To suppress or destroy what makes us who we are. When we are told these things, queer joy shouts “absolutely not”. It waves its flags and cries out, demanding to be seen and heard despite the continuous efforts to silence it. We refuse to hide instead opting to celebrate, not shame who we are. We continue to find joy as they try to destroy it. We continue to create community as they seek to divide it. Queer joy is perhaps our greatest tool of resistance in our march for freedom.Â
What now?Â
Now we breathe. We steady and ready ourselves for what is to come next. We begin to build our defenses, strengthen our connections, and fill our cups til they overflow with our queer joy. The next few years will be trying, there is no denying this. But if we can hold each other, remind ourselves how far we have come, and continue to refuse to be denied the right to exist we will make it through.Â
Let our queer joy shine in the dark and let it be the light that guides us to our future. Because our future is bright. That I do not doubt.Â