Queer Joy: A Spiritual Exploration!
We are so excited to announce the start of ‘Queer Joy’, a spiritual exploration with Kenyan queer, gender non-confirming and trans communities.
Queer joy, with all joys from all peoples, is expressed and experienced in any number of infinite ways, ranging from platonic, familial and romantic relationships that are fulfilling, to work lives aligned with our views of ourselves and what we want to be and gain, to enjoyment of sensory pleasures, rest, recreation, leisure and hobbies, to personal and community adventures, achievements of goals, having our deepest or even most surface needs and desires meet, and much, much more. Our focus here was spiritual practice, following up from our findings in the documentary archive project, “Stories Of Our Lives” detailing the highs and lows of people working to make space for themselves in spiritual existence as queer, trans, and non-binary folk. In spiritual expression, the immaterial and intangible meet the material and tangible in negotiating well-known paths to significance, meaning, and community. This is experienced by many as a core element of finding or being denied acceptance in many collectivist cultures. It is thus a starring sore point and site of conflict in queer life across ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, and other demographic divides here in Kenya, in Africa, and in black and POC communities worldwide.
It is true that for many people in general, queer, trans and non-binary folk among them, there is no need for spiritual expression or exploration in their definitions of holistic joyous living in any way, and we hold space for this in full. For many others, however, it is, and following on from our previous work, we decided to begin here and expand on the wider ideas that were expressed then, as well as see how they had changed and shifted. We have done this over the past couple of years, and are finally releasing this work.
We are sharing these conversations, reflections, and insights from many wonderful people presented in multiple ways, over the coming few days. We had virtual conversations with Kenyan and African queer and ITGNC folk, with a few allies, discussing: present positioning in ongoing spiritual dynamics; outlining these, or exits from the same, in order to prioritize personal satisfaction and fulfillment; chosen, adopted, and self-made rites and rituals; the ways in which people opt in and out of participation in mainstream religion and alternative spiritualities, and everything in between, including quick segues into how money and class access affect these ideas. Excerpts of these community stories and conversations, anonymized for contributor safety, have been categorized into chapters that are part of the eponymously named book,‘Queer Joy’. We were honoured that the wonderful thinkers and writers, Neo Musangi, Kedolwa Waziri, Arya Jeipea, Gilbert Mitullah, and Samantha Toni King’ori, all accepted our invitation to write contextualizing introductory essays for each chapter of this literary adventure, drawing from their knowledge, experiences, reflections, thinking and work in this and allied fields. This book will therefore serve as an archive for the emerging, dynamic logics, theories, memories, and readings that have been unearthed when delving into these intersecting thematic areas, in addition to being a spiritual and ritual reference that allows any reader, queer or not, to explore the hows and whys of spiritual practice, and its place in wider joy, in their daily lives.
We spoke with practitioners Leona Nichole Black and Phillipa Ndisi-Herman about expanding the scope for ritual in daily life, and also with practitioners Adeola Naomi Aderemi and Grey Oletsa as regards spiritualities for a new age, creating room for discussion (not debate!) of these things coming from emerging divinatory perspectives, self-guided and intuitive perspectives, mentored and guided perspectives, mainstream religious perspectives, and African traditional religious perspectives.
Adeola further contributed an audio output on ancestral veneration for complete beginners, detailing how African queer folks can work and connect with ancestors despite familial and community rifts, and Muthoni Njogu of Sakinah Wellness shares insights on being Muslim and LGBTQIA+.
We’re really excited to share this work with you all. Stay tuned for these releases in the coming couple of weeks!