What does queer joy look like to you?

The realtalk@MIT team worked to design a program that could include MIT students and staff both on-campus and off.

In celebration of pride month, the realtalk@MIT team worked to design a program that could include MIT students and staff both on-campus and off. By collecting photos of everyday queer joy and then presenting these in an in-person gallery walk, we offered more and less anonymous ways to engage in community building.

The Questions We Asked

What does queer joy look like to you?

The Answers We Received

Feelings of invisibility, which could provide safety, although it also could lead to a lack of queer support.
Finding one’s voice through protests, parades, and local gatherings helped battle a sense of helplessness and worry.
Nature, in the form of flowers, picnics, rivers, cats, and even turkeys, provided a sense of peace and grounding in difficult times.
Self-expression through crafting, art, and fashion was a notable theme underlying joy.

Our Partners

Alma Jam, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Belonging Officer
Jeremy Torres, Associate Director of Wellbeing and Belonging

Alma Jam, Community Building and Student Engagement Officer, MIT Media Lab

JS Needed

"You can see the diversity in the submissions. People choosing to share different aspects of what they felt was meaningful to share with the world. So I think part of it too that really is appealing is the different stories behind these pictures. The fact that I'm seeing pets, I'm seeing food, I'm seeing adventure, you know, meaningful ceremonies, exchanging vows."

Next Steps

Our team gained confidence in photovoice techniques and managing semi-anonymous sources of community data. If you have a project in mind that could make use of our platform, please reach out!

Get Involved

Check out our opportunities, fill out the interest form to pitch your own project, or email realtalk@mit.edu with questions! We would love to hear from you.