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QT-Con is led by the CSDI and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program, and the 2024 conference is sponsored by the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies, ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Activities and Programming, the Western Program for Individualized Studies, the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Graduate School, Love.Honor.Pride, the University Libraries, the Department of Family Science and Social Work, Kate Kuvulanka, the 1809 LGBTQ+ Alumni Board, and the Alumni Association.

QT-Con 2025

April 24-25, 2025
Armstrong Student Center

Existing and Persisting: Queer Joy and Connection

To persist is to continue to show up for ourselves and for our communities, in spite of the obstacles and those who do not want us to do so. By focusing on that which is self-asserting and self-affirming (in the queerest sense where “self” doesn’t have to be singular), persistence combines action, creation, preservation, and celebration.

While last year's QT Con theme emphasized the theme of resisting and refusing while reposing, this year's theme engages with the power of persistence in shaping and cultivating queer joy and connection. What does it mean to exist and persist in queer spaces, and how can that journey bring about joy? What is the personal significance of the word persistence—in our daily lives, in school, at home, while out and about? How do we resist as we persist? How is our persistence "enough," exactly as it is and exactly who we are?

As an important form of persistence, queer joy is "a riotous manifesto of self-love" at a time when the world tells us that loving ourselves for who we are is wrong (Luong, 2023). Building queer connection outside of cisgender-heteronormative spaces signals both a rejection of normative constructs and a radical acceptance of LGBTQ+ community. Put another way, as Dr. Meg-John Barker writes in response to the idea of rejecting the increasing rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments: "We could find queer joy – and solidarity – in this kind of clear-seeing (or queer-seeing) of what we’re all up against" (2016, para 10). In this year’s conference, we will both think through what it means to act from a praxis of queer joy while enacting that joy by coming together in community.

Presenters can pull from academic studies, from lived experience, from areas of passion, and/or from creative expression. Do you want to present your spoken word poetry? Your treatise on how queer media icons (i.e., Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Luz Noceda, Steven Universe, etc.) are a source of relaxation and comfort? Your peer-reviewed, years-long research project on LGBTQ-related legislation, drawing from lived experience and in-depth interviews? All are welcome! Proposals of 200-300 words should describe the content and purpose of your presentation. Please explain how your submission connects with the conference vision and theme—creative and broad connections to the theme are welcome! Proposals are due by end-of-day on February 16, 2025.

For resources on how to write a proposal and sources related to the theme, please check out this fantastic . For more information regarding the presentation format for QT Con, check out our to determine what's the best fit for you.

For resources on how to write a proposal and sources related to the theme, please check out this fantastic .

Prompting Statements and Questions

• What brings you or your community joy?
• What have you been connecting with lately?
• How do we balance the call for action with our need for self care?
• Where and how do you find balance in individual and community joy?
• What helps you refill your sense of joy?
• How can we reposition ourselves when our community feels under attack?
• What are the ways that these competing demands have been addressed in the past or will be in the future?