Youth participatory action research as an agent of queer joy

This qualitative study contributes to the discussion of queer joy studies by centering on the experiences of seven queer Midwestern youth researchers who participated in a youth participatory action research (YPAR) program led by a local collective of university researchers. We offer theoretical and empirical implications to the growing field of queer joy as related to queer youth from data collected over the course of a year-and-a-half-long program. We conceptualize queer joy in youth as an individual and communal state of being that exists despite and because of our participants’ multiple, intersecting queer identities. Additionally, this joy is deeply intertwined with resistance against the structural violence that permeates schools, society, culture, social media, public policy, and national, state, and local laws. Our data highlights expressions of communal and individual joy experienced through participation in unique, queer-centered research projects. Recommendations for future studies into queer joy with youth are made.