Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance.
- WE CREATE SPACE
- Sep 14
- 3 min read
Strategies for accessing joy in turbulent times.
Across the world, political shifts are making it harder and harder for LGBTQIA+ people to live freely as themselves. From rising conservatism and anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric to segregation through bathroom bills and diminishing financial support for LGBTQIA+ charities and organisations, many queer people are feeling deflated and exhausted. Living in a capitalist society with so many demands on our time and attention can make it even harder to process these feelings.
This month, WE CREATE SPACE hosted an open forum for individuals from our community to come together and discuss how we can cultivate queer joy. This conversation was about moving beyond seeing queer joy as just frivolous fun, and recognising how we must nurture, prioritise and protect it as an act of resistance in the current political climate.
The 90 minute session began in-conversation with two WCS Collective members who are experts on all things joy: TEDx speaker, content creator and author of 'The Book of Non-binary Joy' Ben Pechey (they/them) and multi-disciplinary performer and creative facilitator Ki Griffin (he/they).
Together, Ben and Ki discussed how systemic and intersectional issues can create barriers to us accessing joy and how they both personally approach fostering joy in their day to day lives.
"It's always nourishing and a learning experience when you hear from incredible speakers that have a wealth of knowledge." - Participant feedback.
Community Reflections
At the start of the session participants voiced what was getting in the way of them experiencing joy as queer people. These answers included:
Feeling restricted by social norms and the pressure to 'fit in'
Biased and negative media coverage of LGBTQIA+ issues
Removal of policies protecting LGBTQIA+ people at work
Ignorance towards LGBTQIA+ people
Political leaders, such as Trump and the UK Labour Party.
Anti-trans extremists
"Loved the facilitators and how they worked to bring people into the space." - Participant feedback.
Breakout Spaces
Participants entered breakout rooms to discuss the following prompts in small groups:
Identify what is diminishing your joy
Consider joy limitations (such as situational masking where you maybe don’t feel your authentic self would be accepted/welcomed eg: work, religion, wider family.)
How do you deal with that?
What does joy actually mean to you? (consider what can be actioned)
Based on their answers to these questions, participants were the able to fill out an action plan on how they can cultivate queer joy in their personal and professionals lives, as well as in their wider community.
Takeaways
✓ Resistance to your existence doesn’t have to change how you feel about yourself.
✓ Joy can feel impossible, if it's not there, try again tomorrow.
✓ Joy is easier when it is not created in a vacuum, joy is a community pursuit.
✓ Balance the time spent within spaces where you can't be authentically yourself and ones where you can.
✓ The success of your interactions with the world/others doesn’t reflect on your worth.
✓ Go out and touch grass. Online spaces can be catalysts of negativity; get out and be in the moment.
“I always feel part of the WCS sessions, seen, visible and heard.” - Participant feedback
While you're here...
Did you know we consult with Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke corporate solutions? Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce DEI insights and craft bespoke content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Find out more here.
We also organise FREE community events throughout the year! We offer a variety of ways to get involved - both online and in person. This is a great way to network and learn more about others' experiences, through in-depth discussion on an array of topics. You can find out what events we have coming up here. New ones are added all the time, so make sure you sign up to our newsletter so you can stay up to date!
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