the queer joy project of east texas
Being from a small, conservative town can feel isolating, especially if you are a brown Queer woman. There were next to no local Queer organizations in my East Texas community growing up. As a consequence, I felt somewhat disconnected from the Queer community and felt like the large pride events that I saw online, and important Queer historical moments that took place in other larger cities, were inaccessible for us small town folks.
After spending some time away from home for college, I returned to East Texas. By this time my hometown and the surrounding areas had grown and a few small LGBT+ organizations had begun forming. The next year, in early 2024, I saw a post from Lavender Education on Instagram for an online Queering History class, now called How to Do Queer History, and decided to try it out! I studied Sociology in college, but did not take any Queer studies courses. I wanted to delve deeper into the histories and methodologies used by Queer historians.
During the course we explored the writings, speeches, and works of Queer historians, activists, and organizations like Sylvia Rivera, ALOK, and the Lesbian Herstory Archives. For me, the most inspiring project to learn about was the NYC Trans Oral History Project. I loved the idea of showcasing the whole person and capturing everyday life in NYC. During this course, we also had opportunities to journal individually and reflect as a group on how these Queer icons and organizations impacted and inspired us.
The inspiration and confidence I gained from this course led me to starting my oral history project called The Queer Joy Project of East Texas. My goals for this project are to capture what Queer joy and Queer life looks and feels like in East Texas and share these experiences in an accessible way for my East Texas community and beyond. To reach these goals, I conduct oral histories with locals on what being Queer in East Texas is like, followed by a photo elicitation interview where I invite the narrator to provide pictures that represent Queer joy to them and give them prompts to reflect on those pictures in relation to the idea of Queer joy. As of the time of writing this, I have recorded 17 oral histories, all which can be found on my website.
The narrators in these oral histories range from young adults who are volunteers at local Queer youth organizations to elders who have been fighting for Queer rights and representation in East Texas since before the 80s. Through these oral histories you’ll find people who are creating Queer spaces, writers sharing their research on Queer mental health, authors helping people through religious trauma, parents, healthcare workers, artists, and so many other amazing lives.
Through these interviews, I have recorded the story of the only LGBT+ bar in East Texas (as of August 2025), the first gay couple to be married in Smith County in 2015, flyers for the first East Texas PFLAG chapter meeting in 1999, and many other stories of pride events, protests, joy, and resilience.
Working on this project with the support of Lavender Education and many other great organizations has opened my eyes to the ways that Queer history is created in both large historic moments and in small everyday occurrences. If you don’t see the spaces or resources that you want in your community, don’t be afraid to make them yourself; you might be surprised by how many people are also looking for them.
I encourage anyone who is thinking of starting their own creative projects, whatever it may be, to trust in themselves and their skills. Especially if you are working on a solo project, it is important to advocate for your work confidently and creatively and to not get discouraged at ‘noes’. Since The Queer Joy Project operates out of a more rural area, I’ve found that social media isn’t necessarily the best option for networking and finding narrators, and that volunteering at my local LGBT+ youth center and handing out flyers and zines at local events is a better way to engage with my community. Finding out what works for you and your project will take some trial and error, so be sure to celebrate every win, big and small!
