Queer Joy
What if queer life, and queer spiritual life in particular, isn’t defined by survival, but by a radiant, hard-won joy that refuses to be erased and insists on being shared? Today’s Belief Behind the Book celebrates Queer Joy: A Mosaic of Self-Love, Community, and Resistance by Bethany Meier-Evans.
Belief Behind the Book is a feature that gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the beliefs behind books written by progressive spiritual leaders. Inspired by the Ministry from the Margins Books program, Belief Behind the Book shines a spotlight on why authors write the books they write, offering up practical tips for readers to apply to their own belief systems.
What would it mean to stop surviving and start truly living in joy?
The prevailing narrative tells us that queer lives are defined by struggle. Queer Joy offers a different story, one where joy is not something we earn, but something we inherently deserve.
Bethany Meier-Evans, interfaith minister and creator of the “Joyfully Queer” podcast, guides readers through an interactive journey of healing and celebration. Drawing on accessible research, personal storytelling and twenty years of LGBTQ+ advocacy, she explores how joy grows from three essential roots: loving yourself, finding community, and rooting yourself in liberation.
Each chapter offers:
- Practical tools for cultivating self-love and releasing shame;
- Strategies for building chosen family and finding affirming community;
- Ways to channel joy into activism and mutual aid;
- Journaling prompts for deeper reflection; and,
- Creative art prompts to build your own “mosaic” of queer joy.
This book is for anyone who:
- Is healing from religious trauma, family rejection, or internalized shame.
- Wants to move beyond survival mode into celebration.
- Seeks practical tools for self-compassion and community connection.
- Believes joy can be both personal healing and radical resistance.
Bethany Meier-Evans is a creative spirit, speaker, and coach focused on queer joy, healing and liberation. She has an M.A. in Gender and Queer Studies, a Master of Divinity degree, and is an ordained interfaith minister.
Bethany is the creator of the podcast “Joyfully Queer” and the online community Joyfully Queer Collective. She finds queer joy spending time with her wife and son, their animals, her family and chosen family, queer entertainment, and iced lattes.
When I asked Bethany why she wrote Queer Joy, she responded, “I wrote this book to challenge the idea that queerness is defined only by tragedy, discrimination, or pain. While those realities exist, they are not the whole story. I believe being queer is a gift, and that when we embrace our identities, we can experience deep joy. I wanted to create a book that helps people recognize, claim, and celebrate their own queer joy.”
Continuing, she included a tip for readers, saying, “One practical takeaway is to intentionally make space for queer joy in daily life. That can mean embracing what feels most authentic, seeking affirming community, and noticing moments of pride, delight, and connection. Queer joy is not something we have to wait for—it is something we can embrace right now!”
May this invitation to queer joy move us beyond endurance and into a bold, communal celebration of lives that are not only worthy—but wondrous.
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Award-winning author of ten books, including The Authorpreneur Handbook. Founder and CEO of Tehom Center Publishing, a nonprofit press publishing feminist and queer authors, with a commitment to elevate BIPOC writers. Rev. Dr. Yarber’s work has been featured in Forbes, HuffPo, NPR, The Advocate, Ms. Magazine, the television show Tiny House Nation, and more. She travels the world speaking, preaching, publishing, and writing, but she can always be found at www.tehomcenter.org