Queer Love Is All Around
Thanks to all our new friends and subscribers. Now, allow me to (re)introduce ourselves in case you have any questions.
The Queer Love Project has only been around eight months—we launched in August of 2024—but the response so far has been overwhelming, positive, and inspiring. This past week, I can say without hyperbole, has been a highlight of my life.
It started on Sunday, March 23, when co-editor Michael Narkunski and I hosted our first reading and zine launch at Book Soup on Sunset. I had never met three of the QLP contributors—Bob Merrick, Asya Graf, Martin Goodman—who read their work, and it was so great to hug and greet them for the first time.
That was the amuse bouche before we kicked off our first experience at the annual AWP Conference & Bookfair that was taking place in Los Angeles. We’d decided to take the plunge and get a table when we were only a few months out of the gate. In the lead up to the big day, I’d worked on a zine that curated six of the essays from our first months as well as designed T-shirts and a tote. It was feeling real, but I didn’t know what to expect as the line of eager authors and publishers came streaming in.
Wow! Just wow! We met young people and those with decades of experience. Our table quickly became a hive of activity. Strangers told us their stories—about their struggles, about their novels, about their need for community—and we soaked it all up. At one point, it felt like we were an ad hoc speed therapy station—with all the hugs, smiles, and tears along with it (I forgot to pack tissues, note to self to have plenty next year).
I made new friends along the way, as well as met more contributors who had arrived from all over the country—including Brian Watson who wrote about hugs as a love language (yes, I asked him if I could hug him), the inimitable and exuberant Jardana Peacock, and Jazmine Becerra Green, who was as cool as I’d imagined. We also met many people who we can’t wait to publish in the near future. Send us those drafts!
After eight hours of non-stop rat-a-tat-tat, we were back at it the next day, and the next. After we left the convention center each night, we attended off-site events. While some were crowded and felt a little too “scene-y”, I also experienced a kinky poetry reading at Precinct that did NOT disappoint and another of personal essays in the back garden of a funky tattoo shop that got my creative juices flowing.
In the process, we shared stories. We made connections. We inspired change. I always believed this was my form of resistance during this precarious time. Now it was confirmed. Our lavender booth became a beacon amid a sea of normal. At one point, a mother asked me for advice as she and her trans child navigate the disgusting attempts to vilify and erase trans lives from existence in the United States. “Keep loving and supporting them,” I said. “Just being you and being strong in the face of all the hate is enough. Keep loving one another.” OK, maybe it sounds cliché, but I wasn’t prepared for that. Hopefully the bit I recorded for a segment for Alyssa Milano’s Sorry Not Sorry podcast—which is supposed to be out next week—is a little more potent.
Another woman burst into tears as she confessed her decision to come out late in life and leave her husband of 23 years. She disappeared into the crowd before I could console her, but I hope she knows that I’ve been thinking about her and sending her all the positive vibes I can during this chaotic time.
By the end of the convention, we were both exhausted, but I felt invigorated. I had an idea last year that became real, and I just want to keep it going. Especially since we have a LOT of new subscribers. So let me take this moment to provide a little refresher of where we’ve been and what’s coming up next:
What Is The Queer Love Project?
We publish an original personal essay by a new writer every week—think of it as “Modern Love” but queer—and we pay our contributors. Maybe you have an idea but want a little guidance? Send us an email with a pitch or a draft, and we’ll chat through it (read our general guidelines). Plus, here are three essays to get you started.
On top of that, we have the QLP Questionnaire and have had dozens of folks share their experiences to build an archive to help others see how we put ourselves together in creative ways. Here’s a taste.
We launched The Queer Love Podcast last month—the first episode features an interview between me and Michael if you want to get to know us a little better—and it will continue to evolve (stay tuned for the next episode very soon).
Why Should I Be a Paid Subscriber?
I’ve been a gatekeeper before at other publications, but we are dedicated to keeping all of our words at QLP free, so that the stories we share are available to as many people as possible. That said, there are ways to support us—which means we can commission more writers and artists and creators. Plus, if you become a paid subscriber this month, we’re offering some perks:
All annual subscribers (that’s $50) will receive a tote with our logo. Plus, we’ll include our inaugural QLP Quarterly zine!
Of course, if you just want one of those, they’re also available at our Etsy shop (more sizes and styles coming soon).
Paid subscribers will have access to some exclusive features that are coming very soon, including our monthly Queer Love Virtual Book Club. I’ll share more details about how that works next week, but if you want to get a head start, our first book will be My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson. We met during the author signing we hosted last Friday and had a great convo about his debut novel and what to expect from his follow-up slated for next year.
I’m also dreaming up other ways to create community and meet more of our supporters around the world. If we have enough contributors available in a city—Nashville, Chicago, and Boston are certainly at the top of the list for now—we’ll try to have another reading and signing event. I’ve heard people may want to participate in some freewriting and other mini workshops on essay writing, so we’re meditating on how to do that very soon as well. If you have suggestions, send them our way!
And we’re still working out the details of our advice column, but someone who I know and trust and feel will be insightful and smart, nurturing and incisive has stepped up and volunteered. So stay tuned for that announcement as well!
OK, I feel like I’m dangerously close to throwing my hat in the air, Mary Tyler Moore-style, so let me sign off now. But once again, thanks to everyone for the support, and we’ll hopefully see you at next year’s AWP in Baltimore. (Hmm, “Maryland…” maybe I will throw my hat in the air…)
Yay!!! I’m so glad to hear what a positive response you had at AWP. Three cheers for queer joy!
Bravo! 💜