Queer Joy! - Pride Week 2

[0ddsidian]

Hello Forums friends,

For those who haven’t met me, I’m 0ddsidian (with a zero, instead of the letter 'O'). I’m a background character here within the Forums. I am also a proud demi-pansexual woman and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.

For Week 2 of Pride Month, I’d love to flag the concept of “Queer Joy”. In THIS article, Queer Joy is described as “self-acceptance, community, power, and the vibrant celebration of identity” for LGBTQIA+ people 🌈

For me, Queer Joy really does link to the joy I feel in connecting with people in the rainbow community. It’s also about the way I express myself; through art, writing, language, music and my appearance (check out my Pride nails!) 💅

I’d love to know…

What does “Queer Joy” mean to you?

How do you express “Queer Joy”?

Share the (queer) joy with us!

Tagging people from the week 1 Pride thread (which you can find HERE)

@Jynx @RiverSeal @Dreamy @MissinTooth @Cuddlebear @Captain24 @Appleblossom @Till23 @The-red-centaur @Glisten @Patches59 @Shaz51 @ale_inmelb

[Captain24]

I’m not sure I fit into this one. @0ddsidian. Still not exactly sure where I fit. 

[Jynx]

EEEE what a spectacular topic @0ddsidian 😍

I think for me, queer joy is all about what @ale_inmelb and I touched on in the other thread - about existing unapologetically. 

We spend so much of our lives having to shove ourselves into closets, hide our truth, or bury our feelings. So whenever I witness my rainbow fam existing authentically, loudly, and without those shackles of shame, I am absolutely filled with joy.

Watching my trans friend twirling her skirt around for the first time ever, her face all glowing with glee;

watching my very clearly not-cis-het friends share a smooch and a clasped hand in public;

hearing the confidence growing in my friend's voice as the T made it ever deeper, and hearing how much louder and bolder his laugh is now;

seeing the giddiness and skip in her step when my friend gets gendered correctly by a stranger;

getting to go to a drag show to see the zest and passion of the performers getting to live their truth;

and seeing the pure love and acceptance radiating from this community for its rainbow members!! Getting to witness folks coming out, some for the first time ever, and be met with such warmth and kindness.... it's such a privilege, and a treat!

Ach, you guyyyyyyys!! I'm tearing up 🥹

[Bow]

@Jynx  I really enjoyed reading all your queer joy moments of your friends and they made me smile. Wondering if you could perhaps share some of your own personal moments? 

[MissinTooth]

I don't really know how to answer this one...

But like...for me, it's having role models like people here, to help me start to work through what it means to me and who I am in the spectrum of the community. Actually maybe feeling like I have a community. 

This week one of my students opened up to me about how they feel gender diverse and identify as being bisexual and shared her flags with me. We were able to have a conversation about how they don't feel supported or accepted and feel as if the community implies that there's "something wrong" with her for being different. And I found myself opening up about how I often felt the same and sharing my own New found...tentative and very vulnerable understanding of myself from participating in last week's conversation. I love that I can help my students voice their own authenticity. And hope that maybe one day, I can have joy and acceptance in my own authenticity. That's still a HUGE work in progress. 

[Glisten]

Hi 👋🏼 @0ddsidian 

I’m Glisten. I love this thread 🧵 Keep it rolling for Pride.🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

[Jynx]

Aww ty for asking @Bow 

Actually, I think @MissinTooth kinda touched on it - the joy at knowing that people feel safe to be themselves around me. If someone feels like they can live more authentically simply by having witnessed me being myself in a public place, I am overjoyed by that notion!! 

[The-red-centaur]

Hi everyone. 

For me queer joy is simply looking in the mirror and feeling its ok to just be me. 

I am poly. Most people don't understand when I have had multiple partners at the same time, that may also have other partners. The most understood part i feel about being polygamous is that its just cheating on each other or sleeping around. But I find pride in knowing I can't fulfil every need of a person and vice versa, and as long as there is honesty and communication i would want my partner to be happy if that need is met with someone else. 

I also find pride in keeping gender in closet. I can be super femme, or I can be masc. I find joy in shaving (though it was more work than I thought it be). My T journey has made me more comfortable to be authenticly me. 

A story from a few years ago that still makes me smile, some kids were trick or treating and a kid just blurted out, are they are man or woman. (I was wearing a femine vampire costume) The parents with them went so quiet but it just made me laugh. I said "both" and the kid just went ok and moved on. 

I wish society was like that. Hate is taught, and the curiosity and acceptance of children i wish stayed with more people into adulthood. 

I felt pride when my friend confided in me they wanted to try on a dress, im happy they are discovering their selves in the process. 

Pride for me is being honest with ourselves and society about who we are. They can't hide us in the closet. We shouldn't be ashamed by our existence, our love can't be squashed. I am loud and proud. 

[ale_inmelb]

@Jynx @0ddsidian 

Queer joy, to me, is the quiet triumph of existence. It’s waking up and knowing that I am allowed to be who I am, even in a world that hasn’t always made space for me. It’s not just about pride parades or rainbow flags—though those are beautiful too—it’s about the simple, profound act of being.

It’s the moment I sit with others in the community, and there’s no need to explain myself. No masks. No caution. Just mutual understanding, gentle smiles, and the unspoken truth that we’ve all fought to be here. Queer joy lives in those small but powerful moments: a message that says “you’re safe with me,” a laugh that comes from being truly seen, a shared glance that says “I get it.”

It’s in community—where love is chosen, support is mutual, and existence is celebrated, not tolerated. It’s the sense of home I find in others who have walked similar paths, felt similar ache, and still choose to love, to hope, to grow.

To exist fully, to connect deeply, to reclaim softness and love in a world that taught us to harden—that is queer joy. It is resistance. It is healing. It is hope. And above all, it is a reminder that I’m not alone. That we are not alone.

[Appleblossom]

@The-red-centaur @0ddsidian @Jynx @Glisten @MissinTooth 

I had a moment this afternoon in rehearsal with a gay friend. I knew she would like my tan brogues and a male embroidered cotton top, which I had bought in a store with arabic style clothing. She got it. Also being clear our friendship is consolidating but it is just friendship, along similar values and aesthetics.