On Queer Joys and Failures: Some Reflections From a Study With 2SLGBTQ+ Youth and Elders in Atlantic Canada

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Multicultural and Multigenerational Approaches to Education Research and Praxis (Table 4)

Abstract

In this paper, we reflect on experiences of queer joys and failures during a collage-making workshop with 40 2SLGBTQIA+ participants (aged 14-50+). Through collage, participants explored ways that queer failure operates alongside queer joy and highlight four emerging themes: (1) ruptured romances and communities; (2) isolation and a search for connection; (3) grief in the here and now; and (4) the enduring problem of whiteness in queer community spaces. Our aim is to deepen conversations about queer joy by exploring how participatory visual research production creates conditions for joy to emerge. At the same time, we highlight the moments during our workshop where queer joy failed–reminding us that queer joy, as praxis, needs to be further complicated and theorized.

Authors

• Casey Megan Burkholder, Concordia University - Montreal

• Megan Hill, Trent University

• Melissa Erin Keehn, University of New Brunswick