Student Tasks

The Student Tasks section includes ideas for teachers to engage their students in these materials. There are three sections to support further inquiry:

• Inquiry Questions, with connections to the sources featured in the collection;
• Tasks, where students are invited to use their learning to take action, and;
• Additional Resources, which includes videos and other materials and accompanying reflection questions.

Inquiry Questions

Here are some questions to think about as you explore the sources in this collection:

• As you explore the sources in the collection, what examples of Queer and trans joy do you notice? Where else in your community and in society might expressions of Queer and trans joy be found?
• The sources in this collection highlight Queer and trans joy over many years. What important similarities do you notice in these expressions of joy over time? What important differences do you see?
• When you look at all the sources in the collection, how important is the role of media in communicating expressions of Queer and trans joy? In what other ways might the stories of Queer and trans joy be respectfully told and archived?
• As you explore the sources in the collection, pay attention to the parts of life and communities where Queer and trans+ joy was expressed. Where else in our communities might we find examples of Queer and trans+ joy? How might we encourage and sustain Queer and trans joy?
• Often, risk and deficiency are at the centre of the stories that are told about Queer and trans communities. As you examine the sources, what narratives or themes are at the centre or focus of these expressions of Queer and trans joy?

Tasks

• Using print or digital resources, create a collage or zine that visually describes and represents the supports and barriers to Queer and trans joy in your school and community. Create a large collage made up of all of the collages in your class and school. Photograph the collages and share them widely. Maybe think about sharing them in online spaces.
• What might it look like to curate an exhibition of Queer and trans and other kinds of joy based on the materials you have collected that bring you joy? What can we learn about joy as a way to mobilize and bring people together?
• Write your own history! As you explore the sources in this collection, is there an important piece of Queer history that you think of when you think of Queer and trans+ joy in your school or community? What stories should be added to the collection? What stories still need to be told? After getting consent to tell other people’s stories, collect or create any information that could be used to tell the story of Queer and trans joy in your school! The stories and histories you share could be about you, another person, your chosen family (including pets!), a friend, an event, something funny, something joyful, or something uncomfortable. All stories are welcome.
• What kinds of events support Queer and trans joy in your school or community? Dances? Theatre productions? Sports games? Art exhibits? Be inspired by the sources from the archives (queer dances! Len & Cub’s photography!) and create an event at your school (for your class, for your grade, for your whole school) that might encourage Queer and trans joy to flourish.

Notes about the vocabulary used throughout this collection

Queer
The word "Queer" traces back to Oscar Wilde’s trial in 1895, where it was first used and later turned into a slur by the media. Many think it was reclaimed by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community during the liberation movement from the 1980s to the early 2000s, but some examples of reclamation go back to the 1930s. Even so, some people still feel uncomfortable with the term because of its history. Nowadays, "Queer" is often used as a broad, inclusive label for the community, much like "gay" used to be.

However, other terms that used to be common such as "homosexual" and "transsexual" are now perceived as outdated or even offensive, with many folks typically preferring different labels. Plus, it’s important to remember that language around gender and sexuality can vary a lot from one culture and context to another.

In the end, we suggest that the best way to talk about someone is to use the terms they’re comfortable with. While we usually use the term "Queer" when referring to groups, we know that language is always changing. We invite you to think about how you feel about the terms used: What words do you usually use to refer to gender and sexuality? What terms have you heard students self-identifying with?

Queer joy
Queer joy is retelling of queer life and experiences. Rather than centering risk and harm narratives often tied to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities (including 2SLGBTQIA+ youth communities in schools), queer joy tells us that being Queer is a good thing (A wonderful thing! Being queer and trans rules!). Queer joy invites us to think about how Queer and trans folks create and express all sorts of complex experiences and emotions (like happiness, rage, ambivalence, desire, love, and joy) within cisnormative and heteronormative* conditions (see definitions below). Queer joy resists narratives that situate 2SLGBTQIA+ lifespans as risky, brave, deficient, sad. It can be deeply powerful.

Trans+ joy
Trans+ joy is also a way of speaking back to deficit narratives that are often used to describe  trans lifespans. Centering trans+ joy is a world-building project when school policies and governmental discourses center risk, harm, and the idea that trans people do not know themselves. The centering of risk and harm can be found in recent government policies and bills (e.g., New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Alberta). These policies often state that school-aged young people should not be referred to by their chosen name or pronoun with written consent of their parents. It is also seen in the Premier of Quebec’s 2023 decision to create a “comite des sages.” This group would be made of three cisgender people and, according to the premier, would "look at the different subjects, the rights of the children, all the debate around gender decisions, and we’ll look at what’s done in other countries, and the committee will come back to us” (MacKenzie, 2023).

Heteronormativity and Cisnormativity  
Heteronormativity (Warner, 1993) describes how heterosexuality (being “straight”) is privileged over all other expressions of sexuality in society, including in schools. Cisnormativity is the belief that people live the gender (“boy” or “girl”) assigned to them at birth across their lifetimes. This belief can contribute to transphobia. In schools,  cisnormativity and heteronormativity happen when students are assumed to be heterosexual and cisgender by their teachers and peers. These assumptions can be seen in the use of classroom language like “boys and girls,” gendered washrooms, and school traditions like prom kings and prom queens.

Additional Resources

• Len & Cub (2022): In this CBC News video, Meredith Batt and Dusty Green describe their book, Len & Cub (2022), and explain how they came to discover the story of a same-sex couple through their photographs in the archives.

• “Queer Trans Fatties” (Zine): QTFatties is a grassroots organization run by queer and trans fat individuals on unceded and unsurrendered Wolastokiyik territory, organized by Aaron Beaumont. "QT" stands for queer and trans, which we use as inclusive terms for the queer and trans community. As the group notes,  “"QT" sounds like cutie, a playful reminder that 2SLGBTQ+ fat folks are cute!” QT Fatties focus on organizing accessible, size-inclusive events and initiatives for our community, including free clothing swaps, art markets, online gatherings, and paid art opportunities, such as zines. The group prioritizes physical accessibility, financial accessibility, and COVID-19 safety, with masks required and additional safety measures provided at all of  their events. Check out their IG page.
• Trans Joy & Resistance through Art: In 2024, a national anti-trans and pro-life organization mailed thousands of transphobic fliers into New Brunswick homes via Canada Post. In response, students at The New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (NBCCD) remixed these fliers to reimagine trans joy and resistance in New Brunswick.
• Pride/Swell+: Pride/Swell+ is a SSHRC-funded art activism and archiving project that began in New Brunswick in 2020 by Dr. Casey Burkholder as a way to archive queer and trans communities and life across Atlantic Canada through art-making, solidarity building, and dialogue. Through art packages and prompts sent through the mail, and through in-person gatherings, queer and trans people from Atlantic Canada (and across the lifespan) created artworks that share their experiences of queer joy from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, to resistance to anti-queer school policies in New Brunswick. View their website here.
• A Queer archival coloring book zine from the 203: In 2021, three members of The 203: Centre of Gender and Sexualy Diversity (a student-led 2SLGBTQIA+ group at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton) created an interactive coloring book out of a desire to archive the history of The 203 and Queer and trans student  organizing on campus. The three co-chairs (Megan Hill, Dr. Sabine Lebel, and Nadine Violette) drew all the images in the coloring book themselves, and wrote out the history of The 203 as a joyful expression of Queer and trans community, resistance, joy, and thriving. The digital copy of the coloring book zine is available here.
• Queer Joy Now: The Queer Joy Now project began in 2023 by The 203: Centre of Gender and Sexuality, the Queer Heritage of New Brunswick, Jules Morris, and Melissa Keehn as a way to document and archive the histories of Queer and trans student and faculty organizing, joy, and resistance at The University of New Brunswick. The archive is available online and houses a collection of 2SLGBTQIA+ student and faculty stories, art, poetry, oral histories, and academic works centered around the theme of Queer and trans joy. Check out the exhibition here.

Historical Context for Teachers

Important note: These sources and learning activities include references to homophobia and transphobia in schools and governments, including that from parents, teachers, politicians, administrators, and other students. Content and historical language in this collection reflect perspectives during the time periods when they occurred. Teachers must be mindful that for 2SLGBTQIA+ learners, experiences of prejudice are ongoing. Preparing the class to engage thoughtfully with the past must include consideration of how to address prejudiced, stereotypical, or otherwise problematic language in historical documents and current contexts. This collection’s specific sources and student tasks center queer and trans joy in response to the homophobia and transphobia often highlighted in schools as well as exacerbated by some governments, family members, teachers, politicians, administrators, and other students.

We also invite teachers to consider current, 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion practices and language often used in schools and schooling when talking or teaching about Queer and trans communities (e.g., 2SLGBTQIA+ terminology lists, saying things like “queer and trans kids are so brave,” and only thinking about 2SLGBTQIA+ communities through the context of risk, queerphobia, and transphobia). What might it look like to shift our teaching so that desire, pleasure, and joy become our main framework for gender and sexuality education, rather than risk and concern? (see also: LJ Slovin’s book Fierce, Fabulous & Fluid, 2024).

Introduction

When 2SLGBTQ+ folks are talked about in school, it is often through language of risk (e.g., queer youth are at risk of suicide, and/or homophobic bullying) or through language of inclusion (e.g., “Our school is inclusive and we love our brave 2SLGBTQ+ students”). But this language can be limiting and harmful. It can force queer and trans youth into systems that actively exclude them and situate queer and trans youth as only capable of experiencing harm. In these resources, we invite teachers to reframe their understanding of queer and trans past, present, and future contributions to society through a Queer joy lens. We want to introduce teachers to the joys and complex experiences that exist for Queer and trans+ folks in our schools and in our communities.

Context

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase of anti-trans and anti-Queer political violence across Canada and around the world. In some provinces in Canada, recent government actions in education and healthcare have added to this violence. These actions have sent the message that being queer or trans in schools is undesirable, dangerous, and risky. This violence often supports  already cisnormative and heteronormative education systems (e.g., gendered bathrooms, dress codes, missing Queer and trans histories in curriculum).We invite teachers to resist transphobic and queerphobic violence by tracing the histories of Queer and trans resistance and activism and joy across the archives.

Examples

There are many examples of archival research projects that centre Queer and trans joy across Canada:

• LGBTQ+ Queer Histories in New Brunswick (New Brunswick Queer Histories Matter): Did you know that LGBTQ+ New Brunswickers’ histories are not always known because places that keep histories, places like museums, archives, and school curricula did not think that it was important to remember these histories? Although filling the gaps can be a bit tricky, it is important to remember that the histories from LGBTQ+ individuals have always been present in our society. This short video is created for a Grade 5 audience, and shares an example of Queer joy through the example of a Queer couple, Len & Cub. Read more about them here.
• Moncton’s Gay Picnic (Activist History): Queer joy is an act of resistance. An example of this is on July 1st, 1981, Dominion Day, when around 250 gay and lesbian people gathered at Centennial Park in Moncton, New Brunswick. These Queer folks showed up as individuals, some hanging back on the edges of the park, just in case things got heated, while police officers kept an eye on the crowd. In the days leading up to the event, the picnic caused a huge uproar in the city. The local council responded by passing a new by-law that banned groups of more than 40 people from gathering in public parks without a permit, clearly aimed at stopping the picnic. But despite the threat of violence or arrest, Queer joy flourished and the group went ahead with their plans. Read more about this example of Queer joy, resistance, and picnic-ing.
• Liberation on the Dancefloor (The ArQuives): Liberation on the Dance Floor is a collaborative research project that began in 2020, initiated by researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Ontario. The project originally focused on exploring and analyzing the work of the Gay Community Dance Committee (GCDC), a Toronto-based community organization active in the 1980s. The project continues to deepen an understanding of the role of popular music and collective dance within lesbian and gay liberation movements across Canada.
• Trans* Archives (University of Victoria): The transgender archives are housed at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and their records date back to 1863, with examples of trans* activism from as early as the 1960s from across the world (23 countries, spanning 6 continents). Teachers can learn more about the collection and the stories within from the videos on the archive website.
• Queering the Map: Queering the Map is an interactive and online queer and trans archiving and counter-mapping project created by Lucas LaRochelle in 2017. It began as a grassroots project in Montreal, but has now expanded across the world. Queer the Map seeks to document queer and trans histories, lifespans, and experiences. It is an interactive map where students can explore and engage with Queer and trans life (including in New Brunswick), and have the opportunity to add their own stories as well.
• Drag in New Brunswick (New Brunswick Queer Histories Matter): Drag has been around a long time. In the 1800s, the term “in drag” usually referred to men who were dressing up in feminine clothing and taking on the behaviors associated with women at the time. Drag Queens are usually—but not always—cisgender men and or trans or non-binary people who get “into drag” and perform exaggerated versions of femininity. Drag Kings are usually—but not always—cisgender women and or trans or non-binary people who perform exaggerated versions of masculinity. Did you know that New Brunswick is home to many local drag queens and kings who perform regularly? This video, produced for a Grade 6 audience, explains what drag is, and highlights local drag performers
  
  
  
  Teachers may also review a 2023 panel on Drag histories produced by the New Brunswick Queer Heritage Initiative, and featuring drag performers like Justin TooDeep, Barb Wire, and Venom Devine. (A History of Drag in New Brunswick)
  
  
• A note on drag and appropriation: Have you ever heard the terms “fierce” or “shade” or “yaaass queen”? These phrases were born in the New York Ballroom scene in the 1980s. Ballrooms were important spaces for trans and Queer people of colour—particularly Black and Latinx people—who would often perform in themed competitions. Performers would walk, dance, pose, and vogue in response to categories. Ballrooms were also a place where drag performers would build community, organize politically, and hold space for one another. It is very important to remember that the drag we know today in New Brunswick has been inspired by drag’s roots in Black, Latinx, and communities of colour. Normani is the first Black drag queen in New Brunswick, whose advocacy focuses on disrupting gender norms and anti-Black racism. Read more about her here.
• Transgender Day of Remembrance :  is observed every November 20th. It was started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith in 1999, out of remembrance for Rita Hester, who was killed in 1998 in an act of anti-trans violence. Transgender Day of Remembrance provides an opportunity for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks to  host annual gatherings and vigils to remember transgender and gender nonconforming folks whose lives have been lost to anti-gender violence. These vigils and events are commonly organized by community-based 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations and student groups. Learn more here.
• Transgender Day of Visibility: occurs every March 31st. It began in 2009 and centers around themes of trans celebration and resiliency. The event was created by Rachel Crandell Crocker (a trans activist) in response to the overall lack of public 2SLGBTQIA+ events that highlight and acknowledge trans joy. Learn more here.

Conclusion

By highlighting Queer and trans joys and complex histories,  teachers can begin to facilitate conversations and learning about inclusion and risk in the classroom. Queer joy is more than the standard 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion practice in schools. Instead, it is meant to be transformative and challenge the status quo (e.g., cis heteronormativity, bravery narratives, risk discourses). Queer joy can help move teaching practices toward truly desiring and wanting Queer and trans youth in schools as they are, rather than just trying to fit youth into systems that often actively  exclude them (like dress codes, oppressive policies, and gendered language). In this way, Queer joy helps teachers and youth investigate the conditions that limit what is possible for Queer and trans cultures and lives in schools. Queer joy asks: What else might be possible?