Quenby Creatives

Trans Joy is a weekly blog series celebrating the positive side of trans experiences, in an attempt to bring some balance to contemporary trans discourses. This week I’m taking a look at the project so far ❤️

 

So far during this project I’ve published 18 posts, including 3 guest posts. The readership of the posts totals (at time of writing) 1,600 views between them, I’ve also produced a zine (which so far I’ve sold a few dozen copies of).

 

The zine was a vague idea which I turned into a real thing within a week or two, made up of posts already published, they’ve been re-edited and reformatted for the different medium. There’s something really lovely about having this physical object I can pick up and flip through when I want a little burst of Trans Joy, it also gives the opportunity for the project to reach people who won’t otherwise see it. It also means I can afford to pay guest writers for their contributions (only £10 but it’s not nothing).

 

One benefit I didn’t foresee was how it had made me feel. Writing (or editing) a Trans Joy post every Tuesday has given me an excuse to focus on the positive side of being trans. Having that built into my routine, forcing me to reflect on happy things, has helped my mental health more than I expected.

 

I’ve had some really positive engagement so far, a lot of people have commented on or otherwise responded to my posts (either on this blog or where its been shared on social media) and the response has largely been positive. I’ve been told that this project has really helped people, and (in a very weird experience) I’ve even had people I don’t know recognise me because of the project. I also did an interview with the lovely people at Blizzard, where I talk about the project in depth.

 

I’m happy with how the project has been going so far. I am more confident than ever, that trans people as a community need this project. There is a dearth of spaces to talk about the positive side of being trans and I believe that this project brings something valuable to the world. The world is in utter fucking chaos, and for a lot of us the news is unremittingly bleak, now more than ever I think it’s important to make space to find and share joy wherever we can find it.

 

Future goals

• More guest posts – I’ve really enjoyed the guest posts I’ve had so far and I’m keen to include a broader range of perspectives.
• More zines – I’ve published my first one and I fucking love it, it would be good to put another one together at some point ❤️
• Broader audience – Nothing too specific here, but I think this is a valuable project and it would be good for it to reach a broad audience (it’s primarily written for trans people but I think it could be good for cis people to read it as well)

 

I hope you all find some joy this week too ❤ If you want to contribute to this project then please get in touch 🙂