Exploring Queer Joy in Nature: Tales from the Rural Mountain West

This chapter explores the lessons of three rural queer authors finding radical joy in nature. Often not finding themselves in traditional rural classrooms, nature became a place to find a liberated identity not found in textbooks and lesson plans. Through personal narrative and poetry, they reflect on their rural, queer identities and share the joys of connecting to nature and learning to love themselves when their hometowns often told them not to. Born and raised in the rural Mountain West with the sprawling plains and cascading mountains, being queer can be dangerous, scary, isolating, and tumultuous. It can also be wonderful, exciting, exhilarating, and liberating from the confines of what appears to be the norm. From gay cowboys to rock climbing drag queens, popular culture and technology have allowed rural queer folk to become more visible and represented, as well as develop communities in ways previously not accessible. This chapter highlights the liberation that comes from embracing being queer with rural roots and the draw to the great outdoors, including how nature-based space allowed us to feel liberated as queer people and help others learn this lesson as well.