“Keep standing up for yourself!”: queer and trans youth of color defining and enacting resistance in Utah

This article examines how queer and trans youth of color (QTYOC) in Utah (USA) define and enact resistance in a high school shaped by conservative politics and restrictions on queer and trans visibility. Using critical ethnography with seven students at a diverse public school, the study centers youth voices to display their agency and creativity in navigating hostile climates. Guided by Queer of Color Critique (QOCC), the analysis identifies two forms of resistance: mobilization resistance, through collective and highly visible actions such as walkouts, and engagement resistance, where students strategically reworked institutional roles like Student Government, leadership, and journalism to push for transformation from within. Findings reveal that QTYOC understand resistance as both survival and transformation—an everyday necessity and a purposeful strategy for visibility, affirmation, and justice. By centering youths’ own definitions, this study expands scholarship on youth resistance and underscores QOCC’s role in educational research.