Queer happiness and joy, thorns and all

For LGBTQIA+ folks, it's common for the concepts of happiness and safety to become intertwined. In a world that frequently feels unsafe and filled with stressors for minorities, feeling safe certainly feels great! However, safety isn't the same as happiness, so let's work on distinguishing between the two. Think about the last time you walked into a first day — a new job, a new class, a first session at a new gym. You get through it. Nobody said anything inappropriate. You fo

Queer happiness isn’t just a dream—it’s a right. And yet, the world doesn’t always make space for it. Too often, our joy is overlooked, dismissed, or treated like a footnote to our struggles. But here? Here, we claim it. Building Happiness: Thorns and All exists because queer happiness deserves to be nurtured, explored, and celebrated in all its messy, thorny, and radiant forms. This isn’t about toxic positivity or pretending life is all sunshine and roses. It’s about real jo