Engaging Queer Joy Through Art With 2SLGBTQIA+ Atlantic Canadians to Challenge Gender-Based Violence

Queer and trans communities face increasing rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in North America, yet efforts to address GBV often fail to be inclusive. This article draws on a study that uses a participatory arts-based methodology to engage in intergenerational dialogue with queer and trans folks ages 14 to 50+ that highlighted queer joy as a method of resisting the oppressive cultural norms and policies that lead to GBV. We ask: What might queer joy offer art educators? We argue that, through the production and exhibition of over 300 images with queer and trans participants, we highlight queer joy and show the limits of cisheteropatriarchy—and systems that support it like settler colonialism and ableism—to offer an expansive vision of queer joy that centers solidarity building and queer temporality.