Sign-In
Cart
Rural Queer Joy: Using Social Practice Art to Increase Rural LGBTQ+ Visibility
Hardcover
General ArtGeneral SociologyGLBTQIA Studies
ISBN13: 9781646428991
Publisher: University of Wyoming Press
Published: Nov 1 2026
Pages: 152
Weight: 1.00
Language: English
Blending social science, fine arts, and the humanities, Rural Queer Joy explores how the telling of rural LGBTQ+ stories affects young rural queer people today. The stories of well-known Wyoming LGBTQ+ people like Matthew Shepard, Sissy Goodwin, and Artemis Langford often center experiences of trauma and hardship, leaving little space for experiences of triumph or joy.
Author Jennifer Tabler and photographer Bailey Russel provided rural LGBTQ+ community members with an opportunity to represent their own experiences through participation in a social practice art project, asking what about being LGBTQ+ brings them joy. They then took the participants' portraits and invited them to annotate these portraits with paint, markers, paper, or other media. This kind of social practice art provides an opportunity to engage in epistemic activism through the self-empowerment of marginalized voices and perspectives, while also centering visuals of rural queer people that counter existing stereotypes and add nuance to our understanding of rural LGBTQ+ people.
The dynamic artwork and quotes from young rural LGBTQ+ people displayed in this book highlight how their identities are sources of joy and opportunity rather than constraint and hardship. Rural and/or LGBTQ+ people, researchers, and teachers in the fields of community-engaged arts, gender studies, sociology of sexualities, and public humanities will find inspiration in Rural Queer Joy--inspiration to rethink what it means to be rural and LGBTQ+ as well as to use social practice art to increase the visibility of other underserved communities.
Also in
GLBTQIA Studies
Homosexuality in Cold War America: Resistance and the Crisis of Masculinity
Corber, Robert J.
Paperback
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Cooper, Christian
Hardcover
Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together
Spade, Dean
Paperback
Transgender History, Third Edition: A Resource for Today's Struggle--And Tomorrow's
Stryker, Susan
Paperback
The Lesbian Bar Chronicles: The Living History and Hopeful Future of America's Dyke Dives and Sapphic Spaces
Karp, Rachel
Hardcover
The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within Us Slave Culture
Woodard, Vincent
Paperback
Conversion Therapy Dropout: A Queer Story of Faith and Belonging
Schraeder Rodriguez, Timothy
Hardcover
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity
Serano, Julia
Paperback
Femmephilia: Love Letters to Trans Mermaids, Queer Mothers, and Marilyn Monroe
Lewis, Sophie
Paperback
The Laramie Project and the Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
Pierotti, Greg
Kaufman, Moises
Fondakowski, Leigh
Paperback
Mechanic Shop Femme's Guide to Car Ownership: Uncomplicating Cars for All of Us
Milchtein, Chaya M.
Paperback
As If We Were Staying: How We Build a Flourishing Future in a World That's Falling Apart
Scott, Spencer R.
Paperback
Changing Our Mind: Definitive 3rd Edition of the Landmark Call for Inclusion of LGBTQ Christians with Response to Critics
Gushee, David P.
Paperback
American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era
Lang, Nico
Paperback
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color
de Robertis, Caro
Paperback
Gender Rituals: Creating a Sacred Space for Your Body, Your Gender, and Your Becoming
Lawliet, Eli, PhD
Paperback
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color
de Robertis, Caro
Hardcover
Healing the Oppressed Body: A Therapeutic Guide for Radical Self-Liberation
Gutiérrez-Glik, Andrea
Hardcover
The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World
Downs, Alan
Paperback
Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color
Norris, Denne Michele
Electric Literature
Hardcover
Radical Relating: A Queer and Polyamory-Informed Guide to Love Beyond the Myth of Monogamy
Cassidy, Mel
Paperback
Queer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers, and Homemakers
Delaney, Anthony
Hardcover
Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture
Brown, Sherronda J.
Paperback
Stonewall: The Definitive Story of the LGBTQ Rights Uprising That Changed America
Duberman, Martin
Paperback
The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens: A Memoir of the Beales, the Maysles Brothers, and Jacqueline Kennedy
Torre, Jerry
Maietta, Tony
Paperback
Sick and Dirty: Hollywood's Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness
Koresky, Michael
Hardcover
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Marsha P. Johnson and Beyond
Feinberg, Leslie
Paperback
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Cooper, Christian
Paperback
The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs
Piepzna-Samarasinha, Leah Lakshmi
Paperback
Radical Tarot: Queer the Cards, Liberate Your Practice, and Create the Future
Burgess, Charlie Claire
Paperback
Queer Conception: The Complete Guide to Fertility, Iui, and Ivf for LGBTQ+ Parents-To-Be
Kali, Liam
Paperback
A Pocket Guide to Pride Flags: An Illustrated History of Queer Community Symbols
Bjarnabur, Sindri Sparkle Freyja
Paperback
The Joy of Gay Sex: Fully Revised and Expanded Third Edition
Silverstein, Charles
Picano, Felice
Paperback
It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic
Lowery, Jack
Paperback
Queer X Design: 50 Years of Signs, Symbols, Banners, Logos, and Graphic Art of LGBTQ
Campbell, Andy
Hardcover
We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation
Riemer, Matthew
Brown, Leighton
Hardcover
Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema
Maclay, Willow
Gardner, Caden
Paperback
Notes from a Queer Cripple: How to Cultivate Queer Disabled Joy (and Be Hot While Doing It!)
Gurza, Andrew
Paperback
Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America
Burton, Krista
Paperback
The Transmasculine Guide to Physical Transition: For Trans, Nonbinary, and Other Masculine Folks
Buch, Sage
Paperback
Our Work Is Everywhere: An Illustrated Oral History of Queer and Trans Resistance
Rose, Syan
Paperback
Cruising Utopia, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Then and There of Queer Futurity
Muñoz, José Esteban
Paperback
Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America
Smithers, Gregory
Paperback
The Trans Self-Care Workbook: A Coloring Book and Journal for Trans and Non-Binary People
Lorenz, Theo
Paperback
Café Lafitte in Exile: Queer New Orleans and the Story of America's Oldest Gay Bar
Perez, Frank
Palmquist, Jeffrey
Hardcover
Queer Devotion: Spirituality Beyond the Binary in Myth, Story, and Practice
Burgess, Charlie Claire
Paperback
Hood Wellness: Tales of Communal Care from People Who Drowned on Dry Land
Gordon, Tamela J.
Paperback
The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook: Skills for Navigating Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression
Singh, Anneliese A.
Paperback
Queering the Runes: Reclaiming Ancestral Wisdom in Rune Magic and Mythology
Plouff, Siri Vincent
Paperback
Club Commons: Moving Bodies to Grow Movements in Queer Nightlife and Beyond
Prashar-Savoie, Anjali
Paperback
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
Faderman, Lillian
Paperback
How to Understand Your Gender: A Practical Guide for Exploring Who You Are
Barker, Meg-John
Iantaffi, Alex
Paperback
The Teach Like an Ally Workbook: Allyship in Action for Educators and School Communities
del Sol, Flint
Paperback